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Summary: Clean-energy technology is expensive and the United States is spending far too little on developing it. The U.S. government must do more to promote cross-border innovation and protect intellectual property rights.

This article arises from Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture.

At a time when the crisis in Ukraine has triggered deep unease, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will remind the world that our transatlantic partnership is second-to-none. This agreement will deepen our economic relationship with the European Union, already the world's largest, by bridging divergences between our regulations and standards - without compromising health, safety, environmental, and consumer protection on both sides of the Atlantic. Many in Europe are looking to TTIP not only to spur much-needed economic growth but also to support efforts to reform European energy policies and create greater energy security.

Thanks to technological advances, in the past few years, vast amounts of natural gas -- particularly shale gas -- have become economically viable. This development is an unmitigated boon for consumers interested in affordable energy and for governments hoping to reduce their countries' dependency on foreign oil.