If somebody said he thought planting beanstalk beans would be good for the nation right now, he might not be taken too seriously. But if, a week later, the President of the United States made a 15-minute primetime speech from the Oval Office and a line from that speech mentioned that the nation needed to start planting beanstalk beans, it is likely the guy who mentioned the idea originally would get more attention.
Last week, Microsoft founder Bill Gates appeared before a Congressional panel to emphasize the contention in A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future, from the Gates-led American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC), that the nation needs to dramatically boost its investment in New Energy and Energy Efficiency research and development.
This week President Obama’s speech from the Oval Office about the Gulf oil spill included this passage: “Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development – and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.”
Having won a place in President Obama’s speech, Mr. Gates’ idea certainly deserves even closer scrutiny than would have been the case just on the strength of Mr. Gates’ own formidable recommendation. A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future lays out the case for increased New Energy and Energy Efficiency research, development and deployment (RD&D) spending in convincing detail. The U.S., it points out, leads the world in defense, health, agriculture, and information technology because of a commitment to intelligent federal investments in those sectors. In New Energy and Energy Efficiency, where it has failed to invest at competitive levels in innovation since the 1970s, it is falling behind world leaders, losing out on enormous economic opportunities and paying the high price of fossil fuel addiction.
The American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC) is made up of some of the corporate world’s heaviest hitters: Norm Augustine, former chair/CEO, Lockheed Martin; Ursula Burns, CEO, Xerox; John Doerr, partner, Kleiner Perkins; Bill Gates, chair/former CEO, Microsoft; Chad Holliday, chair, BofAmerica and former chair/CEO, DuPont; Jeff Immelt, chair/CEO, GE; and Tim Solso, chair/CEO, Cummins Inc. These are people who know what the word “investment” means. Their message is clear: Investment leads to innovation, innovation leads to economic achievement and economic achievement leads to everything everybody wants.
The nation’s failure to invest even one-half of one percent of its total energy expenditure for New Energy and Energy Efficiency RD&D has left it dependent on fossil fuels price vagaries, has it sending
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