Thomas Friedman,
Columnist, New York Times
Author, "Hot, Flat and Crowded"

After a gathering at Yale University just days before the election, I asked New York Times columnist and author of the "The World is Flat," what he was optimistic about. He had been talking about his new book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded," in which he lays out the economic argument for investing in a green economy. With gas prices declining in recent weeks and the economic woes on Wall Street and Main Street, Friedman had sounded a bit gloomy for the previous hour.

So what is he optimistic about?

“I’m from Minnesota, so we’re always optimists. Pragmatic, but optimistic about it. I’m optimistic that we will elect someone with the three skills this countries need right now. Someone who will unite, not divide the country. Someone who will unite us with the world. And someone who can articulate and explain complex situations and ideas to the American people. We’ve had a government that can’t explain the inter-linkage of Main Street and Wall Street.

"I tell people to change their leadership and not their light bulbs. Leadership will change markets. Markets provide scale. Scale drives change.

"We need to enter an Earth race with China to build the technology that will allow all of us to stay on this Earth. If we, the United States and our corporations, take the lead on Green, other countries will follow. I am optimistic we can win that race.”