True or false, clean energy can drive America's economic recovery.

Well, let's have it out.

This is a debate from Intelligent Squared U.S.

I'm John Donovan of ABC News.

We are at the Skurball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University

where we have two teams of debaters, two against two.

They include a governor and investor in green energy,

a thinker on green energy, and a writer on the topic.

They will be trying to change your minds because this is a debate.

It is a contest, a contest of ideas and logic and well-presented argument.

In this case, you, our live audience, are our judges.

By the time the debate has ended, you will have been asked to vote twice,

once before the debate, and once again at the end of the debate.

And the team that has changed the most minds will be declared our winners.

Our motion is clean energy can drive America's economic recovery.

On to round one.

Opening statements by each debater in turn.

And debating first for the motion, I'd like to introduce Bill Ritter,

former governor of Colorado, whose state has the fourth highest concentration

of clean energy workers in the country.

He's now Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.

And Bill, I think with the resume like that, America wants to know,

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