the next Green Revolution

The first Green Revolution was a movement that started with the Mexican Government deciding that enough was enough - they were going to do something about their food supply (or lack thereof). Their incredible success with breeding a better wheat seed began a world-wide agricultural revolution that held off mass famine, most famously in India.

What happened?

The governments of poor and developing countries decided that they were tired of waiting for their richer neighbors to solve a global problem - and took matters into their own hands. The result? Lives were saved and a new industry was born.

The same thing is happening again, except this time it's our global environmental crisis - and it is China stepping up. With the world's largest population, massive industrial infrastructure, and a little political will, the Chinese government has been quietly positioning itself to become the leader in cleaning up our environment.

I know, I know... the Chinese are terrible polluters, right? Their cities are so polluted that citizens wear breathing masks, and they've imposed driving restrictions and other policies before the Olympics just to clean things up a bit. Well, that's true.

But they also are on the front lines, developing new renewable technologies, installing filters on their coal plants (which we can't seem to do), and creating mass-marketable products that are not only going to revolutionize the industry but also create thousands of new "green collar" jobs.

China is tired of waiting for their richer neighbors to solve a global environmental problem - and is taking matters into their own hands. The result? Lives will be saved and a new industry is being born. The next Green Revolution has begun.