Al Gore's challenge: the former vice president wants the U.S. to stop using fossil fuels to produce electricity by 2018. Is that a realistic goal?

• Author: Gore, Al
• Position: DEBATE

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YES In order to rescue civilization from the threat posed by climate change, President-elect Obama should commit to this five-part plan to produce 100 percent of America's electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years:

First, the U.S. government should offer large-scale incentives for the construction of solar thermal, plants (1) in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas, and power plants in geothermal hot spots (2) that could produce large amounts of electricity.

Second, we should begin to build a unified national, grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural, places where most of it will be generated to the cities where most of it will be used. The new grid's cost--$400 billion over 10 years--pales in comparison with the $120 billion annual, loss to American business from the cascading failures that plague our existing antiquated electricity lines.

Third, we should help America's auto industry to quickly convert to plug-in hybrids.

Fourth, we should launch a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. About 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. come from buildings; stopping that pollution will save money for homeowners and businesses.

Finally, the U.S. should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home--either through a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system--and by leading global, efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Eight years later, Nell Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface. Today's challenge may seem daunting, but it is just as doable.

--AL GORE Former Vice President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

NO A 10-year plan to eliminate carbon-based electric power is possible, but the drop in living standards

would swamp any benefits. [We could supply all of our electricity with a couple of wind-up...