Fred Krupp is president of the Environmental Defense Fund. The views expressed are his own.
It's as though three mammoth challenges facing America are intertwined like the strands of a rope: reducing our dependence on Mideast oil; creating new American jobs from clean energy; and reducing pollution responsible for climate change.
Together, those strands are a lifeline to the future.
While the House of Representatives passed comprehensive energy and climate legislation last summer, polarization has created gridlock in Washington, paralyzing most major legislative initiatives, including clean energy.
But a new, tripartisan partnership has emerged in the Senate that offers a hopeful way forward.