Khosla: We need planet insurance

TCPalm Florida News: Do you expect your house to burn down? Do you expect to go to the hospital? You buy insurance for just such emergencies.

"So why aren't we insuring our planet?" asked Vinod Khosla, the founding chief of technology giant Sun Microsystems and a key speaker at Gov. Charlie Crist's global climate change summit on Friday. Khosla argued for global climate change fixes that can actually be achieved, such as making hybrid vehicles affordable.

"We have to invent solutions everybody can adapt . . .," he said. "These technologies necessarily have to be cheaper to be climate change solutions."

Later Friday, Crist is slated to order sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in the Sunshine State and demand a switch to alternative fuels. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has led just such a campaign on the West Coast, is scheduled to be at his side in the discussion.

Indeed, Khosla argued for a power grid of solar, wind biomass and geothermal power from California to Florida. "Those of you dealing with insurance in the state know we need planet insurance," he said.