Editor's Note: As a member of the German parliament, Hermann Scheer was the primary architect of the Renewable Energy Act. He is the author of The Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future (Earthscan, 2004).

In Praise of Creative Destruction

By Hermann Scheer

To unlock the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy, dismantle the conventional power industry.

Humanity stands on the threshold of an era of unprecedented opportunities. In the past decades, many innovative new technologies have become available and affordable that can transform our economies, which are based on polluting fossil fuels, into sustainable renewable-energy economies. This transformation will provide millions of new jobs. It will halt global warming. It will create a more fair and just world. It will clean our environment and make our lives healthier. However, for all this positive change to happen, we don’t need an international climate treaty. We don’t need a Copenhagen Protocol, just like we didn’t need a Kyoto Protocol. In fact, these international attempts stand in the way of the progress almost all of us need.

History provides many examples of technological revolutions that have reshaped the world. However, none have run its course without encountering massive resistance. No change has been brought about in consensus with those on the losing end, and none has been the subject of an international treaty—even when the effects were felt on a global scale.

Nevertheless, many of these revolutionary changes needed a political framework or targeted help at their inception to develop and showcase the economic and cultural benefits. The list includes railways, electricity grids, the car, shipping and aviation, nuclear power and telecommunications. Not one happened via an international contract....

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