Speaking before a remote audience at the recent Virtual Energy Forum, Newt Gingrich discussed his plan for freeing America from foreign oil and combatting global warming: "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less."  Can he square that with his advice to hire an 'environmental scout' and  follow the 'best in class' in going green?

Calling the Climate Change bill that was duly defeated in the Senate last week "almost grotesque" for "proposing this scale of governmental control and cost increase," Gingrich argues that we should tap the inventiveness of the free market, and invest in technology to fight climate change.

Ironically, the American Solutions Gingrich puts forward on his website would all require major government investment and assistance. Mining oil sands in the Rockies, drilling for oil in the North Atlantic, developing technology to securely sequester carbon, or building nuclear power plants are not small operations. Even his most progressive suggestion that we "massively incentivize electric vehicles," would require government support.

But Gingrich is correct that market-based solutions, technological advances, and individual efforts have a crucial role to play in solving our energy and environmental crises. Does his business advice match his proposed national policies?

“We need to pay attention to water, because it has a huge impact on energy, and it will only intensify in the future.” said Thomas Rooney, managing partner of RCI Consulting in a keynote address at a Green Energy Conference in San Francisco in April.

New studies indicate that water is under-valued by about 300 to 500% relative to its true cost, which encourages waste and inefficiency. Additionally, a lot of water is lost through leaking pipes and other infrastructure; but fixing these systems could cost upwards of twenty trillion dollars globally. Compounding the issues of waste and mismanagement are the decreasing supplies of freshwater globally due to over-consumption and pollution, and the increasing demand for it by expanding global middle class whose appetite for meat, dairy, and electricity all impact water supplies.