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US energy secretary warns of 'Sputnik moment' in green technology race
Steven Chu says US must invest urgently in research and innovation to keep
pace with China and other countries
* _Suzanne Goldenberg_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/suzannegoldenberg) , US environment
correspondent
* _guardian.co.uk_ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/) , Monday 29 November
2010 21.15 GMT
<FIGCAPTION>Steven Chu says the US must respond to the energy technology
race much as it did to the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch in 1957.
Photograph: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Ge
The _United States_ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa) faces a
"Sputnik moment" in the global clean _energy_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/energy) race and risks falling far
behind advances by _China_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china) and other countries, the US energy
secretary,
Steven Chu, warned today.
Hours before the opening of the _United Nations climate summit in Cancún_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cancun-climate-change-conference-2010)
, Chu said that the US urgently needed to invest in research and
innovation – much as it responded to the _Soviet Union's launch of the world's
first
space satellite in 1957_ (http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/) – if it
wanted to remain a leader of innovation.
"We face a choice today. Are we going to continue America's innovation
leadership or are we going to fall behind?" Chu said in a speech to the
National Press Club in Washington.
_Chu, a Nobel prize winner in physics_
(http://www.energy.gov/organization/dr_steven_chu.htm) , said his own career
had been shaped by the orbit of
that first space satellite. But, he said, over the last 15 years the US had
steadily been losing ground to China and India in research and hi-tech
manufacturing.
For the first time last year, the majority of US patents were awarded to
inventors based outside America.
Meanwhile, China had emerged as the world's largest producer of wind and
solar power, and was breaking ground on 30 new nuclear reactors. It now has
the fastest high-speed trains in operation, with running speeds of 220mph.
Gao Guangsheng, a senior Chinese official for climate change policy, told a
conference in California this month that China was gearing up for even
bigger investment in clean energy technology in its next five-year plan.
Gao went on to tell the _conference, which was hosted by California's
governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/nov/16/arnold-schwarzenegger-climate-change-summit)
, that China had reached
its goal for wind power 10 years ahead of schedule.
"We set up a concrete conception of low carbon development," he said. But
he doubted America could profit from China's example: "I am afraid China's
experience of green development may not be useful for the United States
because of different domestic situations."
Chu, however, in his speech today said the US could recapture its
leadership position with investment in research and incentives for clean
energy
manufacturing.
"America still has the opportunity to lead in a world that essentially
needs a new industrial revolution," he said. "But time is running out."
In his two years as energy secretary, Chu has served as Barack Obama's top
salesman for clean energy technology, directing some $80bn (£51.3bn) of
last year's economic recovery package to investment in advanced batteries,
plug-in cars, and the smart grid.
He also touted the government's efforts to build research hubs for clean
technology. "What I am trying to tell the American public is that this is an
economic opportunity," he said. His comments echoed those of David Cameron
at the weekend. _Writing in the Observer_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/28/david-cameron-climate-change-cancun)
, Cameron said: "I
passionately believe that by recasting the argument for action on climate
change away from the language of threats and punishments and into positive,
profit-making terms, we can have a much wider impact."
--
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