'Green' Economy to Focus on Saving Money

Second, President-elect Obama's plans include encouraging green retrofits of our existing building stock, from offices to homes, because it's the single best strategy to reduce our energy use, costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Third, Obama's economic stimulus plans include improving the national infrastructure, from roads and transit to bridges, sewers and the power grid, which is increasingly obsolete and literally falling apart.

But we will be wasting billions of dollars if we replicate today's infrastructure. We need much more money for mass transit, not just highways. We need to construct smart, green electrical grids and water distribution systems. And we need to turn from sprawl to more compact sustainable development patterns that reduce our energy consumption and our greenhouse gas emissions.