An insightful editorial from the Washington Post authored by John Doerr, partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric, points to the tremendous opportunities in the market for Green Tech solutions and America’s failure capitalize by taking the lead on innovation in this sector. In their view, Green Tech is ideally positioned to be the answer to the three most pressing issues our country now faces – economic stability, climate change and energy security – but first America needs to get more competitive.

The pair explain what’s at stake by noting that each year, energy expenditures in the US cost more than $1 trillion. Compare that with the $250 billion are government spends in funding research and development in this space and we’re able to see the huge disparity in terms of short term remedies – importing energy from afar – versus the kind of long term fixes required – promoting homegrown innovation.

In order to reverse this trend, they argue that fundamental change is needed in our country’s approach and policies, one that begins with a signal from our government that clean energy is valuable. As we see at every level, the way to accomplish this is by monetizing the intangibles, namely putting a price on carbon. By then following this up with a cap on emissions that grows steadily stronger over time and the country is presented with a solution that leaves little room for anything but greater efficiencies.

And while private industry – from corporations to entrepreneurs – will have to improve or be left behind, the government needs to show its support by backing their efforts with better incentive programs. This is especially important for America’s utilities, which are positioned as the driving force of the country’s infrastructure and able to innovation on a large-scale. This means they will potentially face greater challenges from the outset, if they’re smart about how they leverage the pre-existing energy grid, the benefits will be enormous.

As important as it is to approach these solutions on the home front, Doerr and Immelt point to the necessity for the US to once again assert itself as a big player in the global marketplace by creating a robust trade policy with other nations. This not only benefits our economy, but shifts the planet from a diet of dwindling resources to a feast of renewable energy with America once again leading the way.