Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas Friedman visited Congress Wednesday to warn lawmakers that the U.S. is in danger of falling behind in the cleantech revolution.
Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, told senators that of the top 30 companies in solar, wind and advanced batteries, just six are U.S. firms.
Friedman asserted that the nation is "bursting with innovation," but that squabbling in Washington is holding back progress.
"If I were to draw a picture of America today, it would be a picture really of the space shuttle taking off. You know, all of this incredible thrust coming from below," he said. "But in our case the booster rocket–Washington, D.C.–has been cracked and leaking energy. And the pilots in the cockpit are still fighting over the flight plan."
Read full New York Times coverage at the link below.
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My only concern is that Friedman wants taxes to help shape economic transition. It’s true that polluters are not paying the “tail pipe” costs of their choices – we’re all left to breath the air polluted by SUV’s and and drink the water intoxicated by coal powered electric plants.
Keep in mind that most “experts” quoted in Washington these days have their own interests in mind. Doerr is seeking government backing to help out his investment interests and Friedman probably has a book waiting in the wings to make a few million on. Friedman makes it sound like it’s the government’s fault these green entrepreneurs can’t get their inventions off the ground – that’s a joke! The most likely scenario is these green entrepreneur’s patents will likely keep everyone in court rooms battling for control rather than going out and selling products and services. If we’re lagging at all here in the U.S. is because “we’ve had it too good for too long”. We’re a victim of our own success – plentiful access to cheap energy and cheap consumer goods. Everything will happen as it should – it just may take longer than we hoped for.