Shh... We have a secret.

Tom Friedman's masterpiece Hot, Flat and Crowded is about how developing green technology is a win-win story. He says the world will be nicer because we'll have nicer air and water, for starters. We'll also live better because we will get more comfort for less energy expenditure. (like the newer air conditioners and refrigerators that cost less to run than old ones) Businesses will do better, too, because when you think about it, pollution is just good resources gone up in smoke or thrown out with the trash.

Here's the good part: What it takes to get new, improved green technology is not lawyers and politicians. It's engineers.

Japan has lots of engineers.

We have an annual quota on how many new lawyers can be certified. The number of elected officials also dwindles year by year as cities/towns/villages/prefectures consolidate. But the number of engineers always grows.

Shh... Don't tell, but I think Japan is winning when it comes to the newest industrial revolution, the green tech revolution. Japan's secret weapon is schools that teach math and produce lots of engineers, not to mention an abhorence of waste.