Tech CEOs' Green Report Calls for Government Green$$
By Tom Foremski - March 14, 2007
Tech CEOs go to Washington D.C:
TechNet announced its green tech policy agenda during "TechNet Day,” the organization's sixth annual trip to the nation's capital for CEO meetings with leaders in Congress and the Administration.
(The full report is available here: http://www.technet.org/resources/GreenTechReport.pdf)
Some of the proposals:
o Double federal funding for basic energy research
o Enhance the federal government's role as purchaser of new energy technologies
• Fundamental reform of federal tax policy to spur the development and adoption of new energy technologies
o Increase the level of incentives to spur new energy technologies
o Restructure incentives to enable market signals that drive new technologies
o Encourage technology neutrality enabling the marketplace to pick winners
o Establish an effective tradable Renewable Energy Certificate marketplace
o Enable utilities to recover investments in renewable generation and transmission
It is all good stuff. But waiting for the government to do these things is like waiting for the government to admit that global warming was a problem in the first place. It takes way too long and the action is needed now.
Silicon Valley should be able to figure out the business models for innovation in clean energy and related "green" markets without government help.
Subsidies and government programs remove the effect of market conditions that test business models. And it can leave worthy green ventures at the mercy of future political decisions. That's a risk that investors don't need.
TechNet and other tech related lobby groups have been spectacularly unsuccessful in Washington, D.C. Their time might be better spent just getting on with it at their own companies and within their own industry.
(The full report is available here: http://www.technet.org/resources/GreenTechReport.pdf)
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Posted to Clean Tech
March 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comment | Subscribe to SVW
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Comments (2)
Hi, Tom. I agree with you that Washington is slow, but government policies do have a huge impact on energy development.
Look at ethanol, which is heavily subsidized. Without government money, it probably wouldn't be a competitive fuel.
What if you channeled some of that money to other energy research?
The most important point the TechNet folks make is that the government should focus on the results it wants to achieve -- uch as certain level of energy efficiency -- and then let the various technologies fight it out to deliver. Don't just pick one favored technology like ethanol and bet the house on it.
The discipline of the market is important, but timely federal support can help. Miasole is a good example -- it's developing some innovative solar techology that could drop the cost by a factor of 10. It's got plenty of venture funding but also just got a $20 million grant from the feds.
John Doerr and his VC pals are self-interested: they are pumping private money into companies but want that extra government cash if they can get it. And why shouldn't they try?
I posted a lengthy analysis of their whole proposal on my blog if you're interested.
Vindu Goel
Editorial Writer & Blogger
San Jose Mercury News
Posted: March 15, 2007 9:41 AM
Thanks Vindu. Yes, you are right on many points, and Silicon Valley has benefited tremendously from government money in the past and the VCs always seek to limit their risks.
In regards to ethanol, I'm not sure if it can be considered a success just yet. It is competing with food sources and has raised the cost of living in Mexico, for example, where corn is a vital part of the diet but also a vital part of making ethanol. US government subsidies mean higher food prices for people in other countries.
I wonder how success should be measured in such circumstances...
Posted: March 15, 2007 12:59 PM