So are innovations in science and technology that will allow us to take on the toughest challenges that have confounded us for generations — like halting the real and growing threats to our environment.

Take global warming. Studies show that the dangers of global warming are daunting. If we don’t address them today, the world as we know it will change irreversibly. Temperature increases of just two degrees will bring devastation to countries like Bangladesh, further melting polar ice caps, and flooding millions of communities around the world.

But it doesn’t need to happen. Today, scientists have already developed new energy sources like wind power, which can literally electrify entire communities. And another alternative, solar power, is already heating homes by capturing energy through solar panels built into roof shingles.

And that’s just the beginning. With the right leadership, we can develop reliable and inexpensive energy sources to replace today’s fossil fuels from the strife-ridden Middle East with cars driven by batteries on hydrogen fuel cells. One experiment that’s in the works actually captures and bottles up hydrogen — the building block of fuel — produced by tiny bacteria on the ocean floor. And it does so without producing an ounce of carbon dioxide pollution – the number one cause of global warming. Other scientists are developing “smart cars” that can literally drive themselves, making driving both safer and more fuel efficient.

We are right on the edge of new frontiers in science – entire fields committed to disciplines that most Americans have never even heard of – cosmology, nanotechnology, and quantum mechanics.

Of course, every advance in science puts power in human hands. The power to do good, but also the power to do harm. And the more powerful the science, the greater the potential threat. While we must dare to grasp this power and to harness its promise, we must be careful not to unleash its perils. And that can happen if we let discoveries fall into the wrong hands, and if we don’t respect strict rules of privacy and bioethics.

Harnessing this power is not just a matter of being well-versed in math and science. It requires a fundamental humanity. A humanity that is based on judgment, wisdom and compassion. That understands the lessons of earlier years and can move beyond the familiar cycles of history. That understands how to use the tools of the modern world not just for human greatness – but for human good.

20-Year Vision Speech

Hour 1
Biggest Weather Moment #87 – RESCUE FROM DUNKIRK
Biggest Weather Moment #83 – MACINTOSH/GORE-TEX

Hour 2
Biggest Weather Moment #64 – OP EAGLE CLAW (attempted rescue hostages in Iran)
Biggest Weather Moment #59 – BATTLE OF THE BULGE

Hour 3
Biggest Weather Moment #49 – BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND 1776
Biggest Weather Moment #42 – HITLER’S MARCH ON MOSCOW

Hour 4
Biggest Weather Moment #27 – 1986 CHALLENGER EXPLOSION
Biggest Weather Moment #13 – U.S. DROPS 2ND ATOMIC BOMB

Hour 5
Biggest Weather Moment #3 – D-DAY 1944

Free buttons at http://stopiranwarbuttons.com/

“We are living in a country that inhales oil and petrochemicals and exhales American jobs, technology and greenhouse gasses. We’re not gonna last that way.”

New York City, 3/14/07
Taj Lounge

I don’t want to be thinking about 2008 all the time, but if not Clark, then Gore. There, I’ve said it.

Last night in DC:

Senator Clinton told how proud she is of her husband for walking around the house with a bag of energy-efficient florescent light bulbs replacing regular ones.

Last night in Iowa:

“Elizabeth, I saw her climb up, I literally saw her with piles of fluorescent light bulbs changing them out,” he [John Edwards] said of his wife.

-snip

Because of the potential damage to the environment from global warming, and because the U.S. imports much of its supply of fossil fuels, some view the issue in terms of national security. That list includes retired General Wesley Clark, a 2004 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“If you look at all the scientific projections on where it’s headed, you have to view the consequences of it as potentially so severe, it has to be considered a national security problem,” Clark said in 2006. “There’s just no other way to deal with it.”

West Branch Times, 3/21/07

A time to lead, indeed.

This article was first published in The Daily Bruin.

By Julia Erlandson for The Daily Bruin

Experts including retired Gen. Wesley Clark are set to convene today on campus for a two-day conference aimed at discussing the future of nuclear weapons and proliferation.

The conference, hosted by UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations, features scholars, government officials and journalists with knowledge of nuclear weapons issues, including four UCLA professors and former Chancellor Albert Carnesale.

“There’s the eternal question of how do we deal with weapons of mass destruction,” said Kal Raustiala, director of UCLA’s International Institute and a host of the conference. “We wanted to get a wide array of perspectives.”

Former Secretary of Defense William Perry is scheduled to give the keynote address this afternoon, with Wednesday featuring panels and breakout sessions on more specific subjects.

Clark, in his third appearance on campus since joining the Burkle Center as a senior fellow in September 2006, is set to speak today and moderate a discussion the second day. Raustiala said Clark was also a key conference organizer.

UCLA International Institute