R. James Woolsey

• Location: CA
• Marching Since: October 27, 2005

Should you doubt that global warming is as serious as the overwhelming weight of scientific opinion indicates, think of reducing GWG (global warming gases) as buying insurance — just as you pay to insure your house against fire even though you may discount the risk. And the rather modest premium we will pay to make a transition to energy systems that reduce GWG serves other goals as well. For example, moving toward fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids (visit www.calcars.org) and to alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel made from agricultural and other wastes (visit www.energycommission.org) will also contribute to prosperity for rural America, reduce developing countries’ debt burden, often substantially caused by oil imports, and help break the sword of oil dependence held over us by tyrants and terrorist threats in the oil-rich Middle East. Whether you are committed to one of these objectives or (like me) to all of them, you can do a lot for the world by helping build a coalition for reducing GWG that includes tree-huggers, do-gooders, sod-busters, and cheap hawks.