The key to heading off devastating climate change--and to sidestepping out-of-sight oil prices along the way--is to improve technology. We need good alternatives to fossil fuels, not the ersatz variety in which we convert corn to ethanol and then face soaring food prices. We need to harness vast amounts of solar power and start storing the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired power plants underground.

　　These are all achievable goals. President George W. Bush's greatest failure is that he dithered for eight years instead of investing in new technologies for a sustainable planet.