Gore argues that after tripling the world's population from 2.3 billion to about 9 billion with the baby boom, "we are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth" . It also introduces the misconception of disagreement over the science of global warming, in which opponents “reposition global warming as theory rather than fact,” and links the issue to technological advances. In this Gore argues that both the United States and China use old technologies that are dirty and polluting. Although many Americans believe that there is an ultimatum of choosing between the economy and the environment, data describing the percentage change in market capitalization over the period 2003-2004 shows that the cars that are doing well around the world belong to companies that are building efficiently from an environmental point of view