Getting ahead with green jobs

The Senate should take heed and pass a global warming bill at least as strong as the House’s this year. Passage of the bill is of special importance to Massachusetts, which is home to cutting-edge scientists and clean-energy research firms - some of which are racing with foreign competitors to create products that could be sold for decades around the world.

Chu delivered his message about the competitive threat of China at a green-jobs conference in Las Vegas Monday and at The Boston Globe earlier this month. While China balks at accepting hard limits on its greenhouse gas emissions, it acknowledges climate change and intends to be a leader in developing clean-energy technologies, Chu said. “The US is still ahead of China,’’ said Chu, who recently returned from China. “If we move in this direction, we can be the leader and seize the opportunity.’’

That’s a big “if,’’ which Chu reinforced at the Globe by reciting a litany of energy-related technologies, from nuclear power to automotive design, in which the United States has lost its cutting-edge position.

At the same Las Vegas conference, former vice president Al Gore lamented the fact that many proponents of renewable energy are reluctant to speak openly about the environmental cost of inaction. “Sooner or later we are going to have to come to grips with the fact that the climate crisis is threatening the future of our civilization, and just because those words sound shrill is no excuse for not saying them.’’ Of course, Gore is right, but at a time when the public is more focused on the future of its paycheck than the future of civilization, Chu’s case for the climate change bill will win it more support.