The core argument is very simple:  America has a problem and the world has a problem.  America’s problem is that it has lost its way in recent years – partly because of 9/11 and partly because of the bad habits that we have let build up over the last three decades, bad habits that have weakened our society’s ability and willingness to take on big challenges.
The world also has a problem.  It is getting hot, flat, and crowded.  That is, global warming, the stunning rise of middle classes all over the world, and rapid population growth have converged in a way that could make our planet dangerously unstable.  In particular, the convergence of hot, flat, and crowded is tightening energy supplies, intensifying the extinction of plants and animals, deepening energy poverty, strengthening petro-dictatorship, and accelerating climate change.
The convergence of hot, flat, and crowded has created a challenge so daunting that it is impossible to imagine a meaningful solution without America really stepping up.  “We are either going to be losers or heroes  — there’s no room anymore for anything in between,” says Rob Watson, CEO of EcoTech International and one of the best environmental minds in America.  Yes, either we are going to rise to the level of leadership, innovation, and collaboration that is required, or everybody is going to lose – big.
Tom Friedman:  Hot, Flat, and Crowded

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There are signs of hope that the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant may not happen.  But no guarantees.

The oil may not flow “normally” (what is normal?) in Libya anytime soon.

The rest of the Middle East seems more of a powder keg than any time in recent memory – and it’s always been just half a step away from being a powder keg.

Here’s a history lesson for us.  On December, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor.  In July, 1941, Japan was buying 80% of its oil – look at that number again:  80%! – from the United States.  Japan has no oil of its own.  In August of 1941, the United States cut off the supply.  And in December, Japan attacked.

(Yes, I know there were very good reasons to cut off Japan from our oil.  They were a country with imperialistic ambitions, and did not play “fair” in a very volatile world.  But that is the way of the world – some countries, some leaders, do not play fair).

So, Japan determined that they would find some sources of energy that could not be cut off.  They wanted to aim at as much self-sufficiency as they could muster.  Nuclear was the way to go.  So they built nuclear energy plants – lots of them.  But, as Michael Lewis warned in 1989, the “big one’ hits at an average of every 70 years in Japan – it has done so for over four centuries.  This current “big one’ is the first to hit in the nuclear power age.  And it is a fright…  And no one believes that it will be the last “big one” to ever hit Japan.

And there may be a “big one” on our shores one of these days.  To a certainty, it will come to us…

So, what do we do?

We will run out of oil.  No, I don’t know when, but the experts are convinced that it will happen.  Nuclear is dangerous.  Coal is dirty, and too much of it is bad for the planet.  And in the meantime, every teenage boy in China and India is now dreaming of his own “’57 Chevy.” (If you don’t understand this reference, then you’re too young).

So – if there has ever been a time for grown ups to go to the table, and say something like this:  “we’ve got to put all of our efforts into finding a sure, clean, safe alternative” — this is the time!  Nuclear; oil in Libya; coal – these are all increasingly scary sources of energy.  And all of the whitewash we put on the subject will not hide the dirty, dangerous, scary reality.  (“Clean coal” is only whitewash, buying us a little time, but not any real long-term solutions.  “Clean coal” feels a little like “filtered cigarettes.”  We know how well that worked out).

We need leaders – lots of leaders – to step up to the plate.  Now.

Jimmy Carter called for it in 1979.  Even George W. Bush called us to rid ourselves of addiction to oil.  It really is time to act.  Almost past time.

Leaders, the world awaits.  Leaders, all over our seemingly ever-more-fragile planet. we wait.  We need you.

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• You can substitute “planet” for “Land” – “This planet is our planet…”

This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.