"De-carbonize" the economy and become energy-independent.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sums up his recommendation to the next president in a few words.  This single move, if aggressively pursued, would both tackle the overriding issue of our time - global warming - and assist our economy in recovery from the harrowing economic downturn.  

In an article in Vanity Fair, Kennedy lays out the economic argument for acting decisively:

"The practice of borrowing a billion dollars each day to buy foreign oil has caused the American dollar to implode. More than a trillion dollars in annual subsidies to coal and oil producers have beggared a nation that four decades ago owned half the globe’s wealth. Carbon dependence has eroded our economic power, destroyed our moral authority, diminished our international influence and prestige, endangered our national security, and damaged our health and landscapes. It is subverting everything we value."

He then lays out the benefits for nations that "decarbonize".  Sweden enacted a carbon tax in 1991, which is currently set at $150/ton; developed a myriad of new ways to generate energy from wind, sun, tides, biomass, and waste products; and proceeded to grow at rates three times that of the U.S.  Iceland climbed out of an 80% dependency on foreign coal and oil in the 1970s to become 100% energy-independent.  During the same period of time, Iceland went from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to being the fourth most affluent nation in the world. 

Kennedy points out the obstacles to initiating a similar "decarbonization" revolution in the U.S. now.  First off, that trillion dollars per year coal/oil subsidy will be hard to wean the receiving companies off of.  Secondly, the current national electric grid is wildly inefficient and generally unable to accommodate new kinds of power.  Plus, local rules impede access to national markets.

Having laid out the background, RFK Jr.'s recommends that the next president:

1. Immediately implement a carbon cap and trade system to diminish carbon emissions
2. Invest in a new backbone high-voltage, power-transmission grid so that it can deliver solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energy across the country

Seems like a plan.