Interdependence Not Dependence

Last week at the Aspen Institutes's Great Decision Series event, we discussed Energy Geopolitics. Questions and discussion ranged on specific, challenging topics:

1. How much should the US invest in renewable energy, and how soon?
2. What should the US do about other countries (Iran and Russia) infringing on other's access to fossil fuels?
3. How can the US protect its access to enough (and "cheap") energy resources?
4. What countries threaten our access to fossil fuels - economically, forcefully, socially, and politically?

I can't help but think that these are actually the wrong questions.

If I can travel from Aspen to Nepal, if I can eat food from China and Africa, and if I can Facebook message my friends in Indonesia and Argentina, why would I even consider any isolationist or protectionist nationalistic stance that might hinder the progress of other countries, and my brothers and sisters living there?

Every country and every person is being affected by the energy crisis: Either energy is too expensive, and/or the output of energy is damaging our planet. Any country-centric effort is short-sighted and is not a solution to the real problem.

The old adage as never been more true, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". Only by intertwining our ability to access and use energy, while greening our planet, can we truly overcome the energy crisis. While I might not be an energy expert, Jeremy Rifkin is. His notion of the Third Industrial Revolution is progressive and is more about ongoing peace and cooperation then it is about energy security.

As it is with business, relationships, and politics, interdependence can save us, independence cannot.