Bringing Clean Energy Technologies to Market

The opposition enjoys throwing failures like Solyndra in the face of sustainability. Never mind them.

A vibrant clean energy industry is already growing in the United States with government investment. More is needed and with a few tweaks to the system, smart government support would be more successful, according to Forbes. Some key points and excerpts from a recent article by Jesse Jenkins follow.

A clean energy industry is here and needed.

"First, the global energy system is modernizing and diversifying. For an array of motivations from public health and climate change to security and economic growth, today’s economies demand a 21st century suite of clean and reliable energy technologies to supply the $5 trillion-and-growing global energy market."

Government support is needed.

"While the Loans Program Office falls short in some areas, we must not forget the reason it was originally established, with strong support from both parties, by the Energy Policy Act of 2005: American entrepreneurs face a persistent challenge in securing adequate financing to demonstrate and commercialize promising advanced energy technologies, a market barrier that must be addressed by smart and effective public policy."

A revamped loan program that would become a new investment agency would be an improvement over the current program. This has already been discussed on both sides of the aisle.

"Under the leadership of Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the proposed investment agency has already been well vetted. The program has the support of leading venture capitalists, American energy companies, and the U.S. Chamber of Congress. And it received bipartisan votes of confidence from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in both the 111th and 112th Congresses.

The time to act is now. American entrepreneurs and businesses need Congressional policymakers to stop playing politics and focus on the key reforms needed to ensure clean and affordable advanced energy technologies can be readily brought to market."