Traditionally, when people consider the strength of the American economy, key indicators come to mind: the Dow Jones Industrial Average, per capita GDP, and the consumer price index. These days, the numbers at the pump tell it all. The skyrocketing price of gas has not only revealed how fragile our economy is, but it has also shown how our national energy policy has led us astray.
After eight years of oil men in the White House we find ourselves with an economy strained by four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline, record home heating costs, and soaring electricity prices. John McCain promises us more of the same. Under McCain’s economic plan, tax breaks for oil and gas companies would actually increase to $39 billion, according to a report by the Center for American Progress. In other words, McCain is Big Oil’s hope to renew its lease on America.
With millions of dollars in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies rolling in, and some of the industry’s top lobbyists, like Charlie Black, occupying senior campaign advisory roles, John McCain could never deliver the change we need.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, through his proposed policies to support renewable energy development, has shown that he is capable of bringing real change.
Senator Obama's decision to champion renewable energy is a giant step toward rebuilding the American economy through clean energy. The significance of clean energy for our economic future cannot be ignored. A recent study by the University of Massachusetts, in collaboration with the Center for American Progress, showed that a short term, $100 billion investment in energy-efficient infrastructure and green industries could create 2 million jobs nationwide in two years, a significant down payment on the 5 million jobs that would be created by the comprehensive energy and economic plan proposed by the Obama-Biden team. Another recent economic study concluded that with the right incentives, clean energy could create as many as 40 million U.S. jobs by 2030. The fact is, hundreds of thousands of jobs are already part of this growing industry and mainstream industry is part of this change. For example, in 2007 ten percent of GE's sales stemmed from its rapidly growing green technology business.
Our energy future must not fall back on outdated energy technologies. Rather, we must draw on our tradition of American ingenuity to find a new way forward. We need to compete globally for new markets with new technologies. As Thomas Friedman recently said in the New York Times, only one of the presidential candidates recognizes how much our economic future is tied to clean energy: Barack Obama. Senator Obama has laid out a strategy for developing our energy future, while John McCain has tied himself to our continued reliance on fossil fuel by emphasizing oil drilling as the solution to our energy problems.
The U.S. is not the only country competing for this business. One of China's first billionaires made his fortune in solar. The Chinese economy earns $2.5 billion annually from its solar industry, which employ more than 150,000 people. Worldwide, according to a U.N. report, the environmental industry produced more than five million jobs in 2005. If we are going to remain internationally competitive, we need to aggressively expand our clean energy industry.
Fortunately, clean energy is already beginning to take hold in places across the nation. Many people know that clean-tech is the hot new sector in Silicon Valley, but the nation's heartland is also getting involved. Pennsylvania has used clean energy to lure overseas jobs into the commonwealth. Gamesa USA is a perfect example. In 2004, the company selected Philadelphia for its U.S. headquarters. Today, Gamesa has four manufacturing facilities and employs more than 1,100 workers across Pennsylvania. Among those ranks are 600 "green collar" employees represented by the United Steelworkers (USW) union. Gamesa invested more than $175 million in Pennsylvania, including $34 million to convert a former US Steel industrial site into a modern-day manufacturing center.
Government support is needed to kick-start markets for large-scale deployment of clean energy. John McCain's voting record in Congress has shown little support for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Over the past year, the U.S. Senate has voted eight times on a practical renewable energy bill. John McCain skipped all eight votes, and each time the bill was defeated. Late last year, a critical proposal came before the Senate that would have provided tax incentives for alternative energy by ending $13 billion in give-aways to oil companies. John McCain was the only Senator who did not vote on the proposal, and it was defeated by a single vote.
In contrast, Senator Obama has proposed $15 billion per year in cleantech development; $4 billion in loans and tax credits to American auto plants and manufacturers to build fuel-efficient cars; the creation of five demonstration power plants that capture and store carbon emissions; and a mandate that 10 percent of U.S. energy come from renewable sources by 2012.
If we want our economy to have a vibrant future, we need to invest in that future. Barack Obama would do that. John McCain would not. The choice is clear.
Sunil Paul
Founding Partner
Spring Ventures
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