”Green” Energy Sought As Fix For Economy And Planet

Investments and policies to combat climate change will put the world economy on the road to recovery and help cool the planet in the process, delegates at the World Economic Forum said on Wednesday.

Although the meeting is dominated by the global recession, climate change is a central issue for policymakers and business leaders who want to reduce reliance on dirty and imported fossil fuels and support growing industries capable of creating jobs.
“Climate change in some ways is more in the center,” said Frances Beinecke, president of U.S. environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Designing a new energy future is much more central to the conversation than it was in the past, where it was considered sort of an add-on.”

If there is any optimism around the potential for aggressive new environmental policies and big investments in renewables to create “green collar jobs,” U.S. President Barack Obama could be given much of the credit.

Planet Ark