Let’s start off with a historical note. When it comes to wind and solar power, you have an unusual expertise. You won America’s Cup.
That’s right, I was the wind king. But I also like solar, because the sun is good, too. And I think solar and wind together make a dynamite combination.

What’s our next step?
The government needs to change its attitude.

That’s what Boone’s been saying. Are you ready to march on Washington with him and his New Energy Army in January?
Absolutely. I’d love to march in Washington. There’s a wonderful book that I just finished a couple of days ago that’s got a lot to say about Washington. It’s by Tom Friedman, a New York Times writer.

Hot, Flat, & Crowded?
That’s the one. He’s right on about the way Congress is still backing the fossil fuel industry. Actions speak louder than words, and wind and solar and geothermal are all at a serious disadvantage. We’re falling further and further behind. Other countries are miles ahead of us because they’ve had much more enlightened leadership as far as energy is concerned. We’re just stuck in a rut.

That hurts everybody – consumers, companies, and the country as a whole.
It makes me angry to read about it because if we give American ingenuity and entrepreneurship just half a chance, we can do a better job than anybody in the world. We’ve proven it time and again, but the Congress is so used to the big contributions from the fossil fuel industry that they haven’t moved at all. That’s got to change with the new administration and fast.

There was a passage in Hot, Flat, & Crowded where GE’s Jeff Immelt told Tom that GE had developed third-generation clean energy technology with wind turbines. But it wasn’t because of the U.S. market. It was because of the European Union.
Right. Countries like Spain and Germany are incentivizing clean, renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels, but we’re not. It’s hard to believe that a country that likes to think of itself as enlightened and progressive and ahead of the curve would have allowed itself to fall so far behind and be doing virtually nothing about it even today.

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED, CONDENSED, AND EDITED BY ERIC O’KEEFE