McKinsey Quarterly just published this interview in which Economist Nicholas Stern says that we should use the economic crisis to address climate change.

“We need to have a reflationary package, which lays the foundation for future growth. And if we look into the future, it’s actually quite exciting. Because what we see is the biggest technological opportunity that we’ve had for a very long time: as big as the railways, as big as electricity, as big as the motorcar, and, most recently, information technology. It’s the opportunity to go for low-carbon growth.”

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The blogosphere’s theme for the remainder of 2009 should be the Rahm Doctrine. Clearly we are in the middle of a pretty major economic crisis. Hopefully it won’t last much longer than 2009.  I also think we are in the middle of a more subtle social crisis that will likely go on for much longer. Don’t believe me? Think about the climate, income inequality, healthcare, increasing global conflict, rising food prices.

With so much in the way of crisis going on right now, according to the Rahm Doctrine at least, there should be plenty of opportunities. Especially for entrepreneurs.We’ve already highlighted a few of these opportunities, and will continue to do so.  Other bloggers are doing the same (everyone from Gary Vaynerchuk to Paul Krugman)

President Obama in his weekly address this morning confirmed this belief. What we’re going to see in the coming months is a global willingness to try new ideas out, mostly because many of the old ideas are broken. And we’re already seeing signs of it.  Americas workforce is switching sectors. We are investing in our homes to increase their efficiency (and stave off loss in value). For a great article on what some of the coming changes could be, check out this months Atlantic.

And if you have your own ideas of opportunities within crisis please share them with us. One of our favorites is here.

The country got a glimpse of the coming battle over the proposed carbon cap and trade system (a carbon tax would be better) during Secretary Tim Geithner’s testimony to the Senate Finance Committee yesterday .

Senator Grassley (R, Iowa) called the cap and trade system a “tax” and asked if President Obama is breaking his promise to not raise taxes on people making less than $200,000?

Sec. Geithner did a great job of responding directly to the question and explaining why it is important to address climate change.

I applaud the Secretary’s forthright answers and especially his statement that the impact of this system will depend on individual behavior.  The country has been waiting for leaders to tell us the truth about the challenges we face.

Cutting taxes while fighting wars on hidden budgets (full of borrowed money) sounded great - but crushed our economy.  We need leaders willing to tell us things we may not want to hear - like we need to pay our own way.

Which why, even though I would prefer a direct carbon tax, I support the Obama Administration attempt to change our energy habits. Geithner said it well, “we need incentives to change the way we use energy.”  Most Americans want to get off oil and know that it won’t be easy.  We can handle cost increases if  we have a leader who keeps us focused on the endgame (and our sacrifices result in a actual change.)

The is refreshing to have an Administration that is not trying to snow us with easy answers that don’t really address the problem.  Obama is taking the high road and providing vision for how we build a new energy economy.

The challenges is that his well-funded opponents get to  yell “raising taxes”, “hurting the middle class” and “breaking promises.” Their sound bites will work better on TV and they will come from both Republicans and Democrats.

The President will need our help responding to the gas, coal and oil spokesman. One of the things we can do is stomp on the false populism.

Senator Grassley wielded populism yesterday, saying cap and trade will hurt working families and the unemployed.  Since when has he fought for the middle and working classes?

The AFL-CIO says he has voted with labor only 14% of the time and MiddleClass.org says scores him only slightly higher at 20%.  Senator Grassley is working for the richest and most powerful forces of status quo.  If he is really worried about coal companies, then our job is to make him say so.  He doesn’t get to hide behind us.

The contrast between the Administration and the Senate could not be clearer.  Sec. Geithner told us the hard truths while the Senator used our struggles to protect the lining of his friends pocketbooks.

Sensitive information about President Obama’s helicopter (Marine 1) was found on a hard drive in Tehran. Evidently, someone at “a defense contractor in Bethesda, Maryland” installed a file sharing program that comprised their hard drive.

Oh, the games we play. Some poor smuck wanted a Britney Spears song and ends up getting himself fired, maybe bringing his company down and possibly endangered the President.

Before we rush to judgement, a few more details would be nice.  For instance, what company was breached and what else was on that hard drive?  And how about the owner of the hard drive in Tehran? Did it belong to Khameni or some sixteen year old kid in that Internet savvy country?

Answers to those questions will help us decide on the level of this like particular breach, but it reminds us all how easily - and seriously - our systems can be corrupted.

That our greatest challenges are our best opportunities for a sustainable future, if we all work together.

There are enough blogs today commenting on the beginning of a new era and the renewal of the American spirit. It’s enough to say that I by and large agree with them.

However, for Salvage this is a particularly poignant time.  Salvage is about harnessing the power of the diverse units that make up a community under a common purpose- a unity of purpose, as some have put it. We have been circling around this topic for sometime with our network of partners as a way to innovate and grow despite limited resources. Our network must now turn this conversation into a mandate and combine our collective efforts.

Salvage Research will be continuing to produce content, broad and deep, that covers how communities are able to come together and create new social capital. The next four years are sure to produce many chances for us to test and prove our hypothesis. We hope you all join us.