John F. Kennedy challenged Americans to put "a man on the moon" by the end of the decade. As during the Cold War, again the nation faces many challenges, including economic collapse and climate change. Like the space program, an equally bold solution exists to our problems today. With the political will, we could restore America's economic strength and tackle global warming by transforming the Rust Belt into a post-industrial Green Belt. It's called the Apollo Alliance and it's the best idea in a generation that you've never heard of ... yet.

A coalition of business, environmental and labor groups, the Apollo Alliance champions the so-called green economy. At the core of this effort is the United Steelworkers union, which understands that green jobs can rejuvenate an American manufacturing sector devastated by decades of job losses. This "blue-green" coalition wants us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, foreign suppliers and oil corporations.

Instead, we want to ramp up investments in wind, solar and other renewable energies. Not only would this policy jump-start flagging efforts to seriously address climate change, it also would employ millions of Americans in well-paying manufacturing jobs that have a future while decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. Can you say no-brainer?

Just as JFK's idea inspired a generation and proved successful, the Apollo Alliance hopes, among other goals, to generate 25 percent of the nation's power from renewable and recycled energy by 2025. Of course, that will require an enormous shift in public policy and an equally large capital investment. But, really, we have no choice.

Green jobs are those decoupled from fossil fuels. Some already exist. For instance, hundreds of Pennsylvanians work at a plant not far from Johnstown, built literally on the site of an old U.S. Steel factory, that manufactures wind turbines -- alas, for a Spanish company.

This New Green Frontier includes planting green roofs in Chicago, working for Amtrak, installing solar panels on a Denver library and retrofitting houses in suburban Miami. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others have observed, "We don't produce anything anymore. We buy and sell houses with money borrowed from China." Let's start doing so again.

Despite the risks of outsourcing and climate change, the last eight years have seen little leadership from either the federal government or corporate America. Sure, in his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush finally acknowledged that "America is addicted to oil." But he did not follow up with action.

Instead, he feeds our addiction by pushing for more domestic production. For though it sounds good, more domestic oil drilling won't solve our addiction, nor will it reduce gas prices today or next year. The better approach is to wean our nation off fossil fuels rather than support our "habit." Enter energies produced by wind, the sun and other renewable sources.

John McCain gives lip service to green jobs but has made drilling the centerpiece of his energy plan -- which would not produce many jobs, would not help our environment and most definitely would not address the impending crises caused by rapid climate change.

In contrast, Barack Obama talks far more often and in more detail about our need for a green future. He claims that embracing the green economy can create five million new jobs and promises an investment of $15 billion annually for 10 years.

The Apollo Alliance contends that at least twice that amount is needed, still but a fraction of the annual federal budget and a pittance compared to the amounts being discussed in the current fiscal crisis. Yet no matter who gets elected, the Apollo Alliance agenda is a must.

Just as JFK's bold pledge succeeded, if we embrace the vision of the Apollo Alliance we would clean up the environment, produce millions of well-paying American jobs that won't be outsourced, avoid sending almost a trillion dollars a year to OPEC, improve our strategic position in the world and attack the profound, global consequences of climate change. If, as with JFK in the 1960s, we have the political will.

Can we afford not to act?