Now,when Ca lifor nia passed it"s Global Warming Act,may I remind you,we were totally alone.There was no one out there doing the same thing.Becauseas I said,Washington didn"t lead.But we started forming partnerships,partnerships with western states,with northeastern states and with Canadian provinces and with European nations.As a matter of fact,with all European nations.And then 600American cities have signed on to be part of Kyoto treaty.So America has to lead and we are doing so even without Washington.Now,things are going really well and there"s great progress being made,but not everything goes smoothly.There are stumbling blocks along the way.Like for instance a year or so ago there was a billboard in Michigan that accused me of costing the car industry $85billion because of our new emission standards.
The billboard said:"Arnold to Michigan,drop dead."But that"s not what I"msaying.What I"m saying is".what I"m saying.
Arnold to Michigan,get off your butt."That"sAs a matter of fact,California may be doing more to save the U.S.auto industry than anyone else because we are pushing them to change,so that if they want to sell their cars in the golden state,they should change the technology.
But government by itself cannot get us where we need to go.I"m a big believer in American technology and I think that technology is what eventually will save Detroit and will save the environment.
We have seen over and over people talking about how bad the big jets are and how bad the big cars are,but that"snot where the action is,what the size of something is.The action is in technology.
A perfect example is,for instance,we in California have a car company called Tesla Motors.Well,the Tesla Roadster is 100percent electric.This car goes from 0to 60in four seconds and it drives 140miles anhour.As a matter of fact,President Levin,you need to have one of those cars,I tell you,because the girls will go crazy when they see you in this car.(Laughter)I know you will be excited about that.
Anyway,the Tesla Roadster goes 250miles on a charge and then it only takes 3and 1/2hours to charge it up.
Now,of course,there is a downside,because the first version of that car will cost $100,000.But the second one will come down to $80,000and the third version will be $50,000.So economics tells you where this is heading.It"s just like with the cell phones.Twenty years ago I bought a cell phone which was kind of a radio phone and it cost $1600.Then eventually it went down to $1000,to $500and the last phone I bought for my daughter was only$90.So today cell phones are everywhere because of the cost coming down.And the same thing will happen with the environmental technologies.
But government,as I said,cannot do it all,but government can give a push by setting the standards.
So California is giving the nation and the world a push.And this is whyU.N.Secretary?General Ban Ki?moon came to me a year ago and asked me to do a keynote speech at the United Nations in order to talk there about what California is doing and to give the rest of the world a push,because there were190some countries sitting there and we tried to inspire them to go in the same direction as California is.
Now,of course,beyond government p ol icy a s e c ond f a ctor is e c onom ic s.California is the leading edge of what I call the environmental economy,which is green,clean technology.Right now in California"s university labs,corporate research parks,even in strip mall offices something veryexciting is happening.The nation"s brightest scientists and the smartest venture capitalists are racing,racing to find new technologies for alternative energy.Now,this is a race that is literally fueled by billions and billions of dollars.When it comes to developing green tech in California,everyone is drinking Red Bull,I can tell you that.Even the most optimistic forecasters say that we only have 40or 50years of oil left.As a matter of fact,with the thirst that we see in India,that India has and China has,I think those years are even less.
So there is a huge pressure,besides global warming,to push in a direction of finding new sources of energy.So capitalism,the long alleged enemy of the environment,is today giving new life to the environmental movement.In fact,the environmental cause would be unwinnable without capitalism and the technology it will provide.
As a matter of fact,the head of PG&E,California"s largest utility,says that the energy industry is on the brink of a revolution.General Electric,based right here in Connecticut,sold its plastic business because it saw more potential for growth and profit in environmental goods and services.
So you can see the shift is happening.And the shift is not only happening here in America;we see it all over the world.I saw the other day that a leading German consulting firm predictedthat by the end of the next decade more people will be employed in Germany"sg reen,clean technolog y industr y than in the auto industry.So as you can see,this is not a fairytale.We have had the industrial revolution,the technological revolution,the global revolution and next is the environmental revolution.Now,I see ??(applause).Now,I see some people lookingat me funny and saying,what happened to the sexual revolution?Well,we"re going to talk about that the next time I come here,I promise you.