On Dec. 6, a gathering of technology business leaders will attend a first-of-its-kind event at Stanford University to bridge the worlds of climate policy and commerce.

The aim is to improve corporate performance and profitability in the face of growing concerns over climate disruption and constraints on the availability of fossil fuels.

Featuring former Vice President Al Gore; Terry Tamminen, cabinet secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; climate authority David Hawkins; and faculty from Stanford's new Institute for the Environment, the event will explore ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change while growing the economy.

This event reflects many of the core messages of an organization of which I am co-founder, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a national, non-partisan group of business leaders who advocate for rational environmental policies.

E2 argues that good environmental performance goes hand in hand with strong economic performance, and that economic realities are the most persuasive drivers of environmental progress. Our experience proves this to be true.

Take energy. Solving America's energy problem presents a huge economic opportunity.

Our national dependence on fossil fuels will make us or break us, depending on whether we choose, at last, to do something real about it. In addition to all the national and economic security problems we bear in the name of oil, scientists are increasingly sure that our consumption of carbon-based fuels is causing profound, unnatural shifts in our global climate patterns. We need vision and leadership to fuel our future. Unfortunately, both are lacking in Washington.

Last May, I and 17 other E2 members met with nearly 50 members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, to promote the idea that clean energy is good for both the environment and business. We presented a statement signed by more than 80 venture capitalists and investors urging Congress to set limits on emissions of global-warming pollution to stimulate investment in clean technologies. We also called for a national oil savings plan and a commitment to deploy clean technologies on government projects.

Our message was well received, but many legislators are still not ready to commit to a new direction in energy policy. The energy bill Congress finally passed last summer is a case in point.

We've known for years we can't possibly drill our way to energy independence, yet the bill subsidizes massive oil exploration in our most sensitive public lands and along protected coastlines.

Positive oil-reduction strategies such as increased vehicle fuel-efficiency standards and requiring that renewable resources provide 10 percent of our electricity by 2020 never got real consideration.

Without federal leadership, we'll have to rely on what I call "bubble-up economics," and Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial communities are leading the way. The clean-technology sector, businesses addressing efficient resource management, now receives $1.4 billion annually, 7 percent of total venture dollars placed.

Policies such as California's clean-cars law, which cuts global-warming pollution from cars, and the recently passed alternative fuels bill that promotes non-petroleum-based transportation fuels in our state are creating further incentives for investment in new energy technologies such as biofuels, which would allow us to grow our fuel, and not have to drill for it.

The good news is that investing in change offers enormous opportunity to reinvigorate our economy. The event Dec. 6 may be a pivotal moment in the next chapter of Silicon Valley. We have the technological expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and financial infrastructure in place to lead the next revolution.

"The Heat is On: Silicon Valley Takes on Global Warming"

When: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6.

Where: Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University

Tickets: Free, but must be reserved by Tuesday by contacting Erin Strain at erins@iarchive.com or (650) 528-4688.