President Obama has emphasized the development of green technologies, not only as a way of solving environmental problems such as climate change, but also as a way of stimulating the economy. No sector of the economy appears primed to pull us out of the recession. Only a new technology that creates jobs and mobilizes people across the economy will suffice.
But the problem in a serious recession driven by problems in the financial sector is that most investors will shy away from investing in new, risky technologies that might not pay off. Many of the green technologies are untested and involve large infrastructure projects that may face many obstacles and will take a long time to get off the ground. The reconstruction of our electrical grid to transport wind/solar power from one part of the country to another, is one such project.
Thus, the proposal by Karen Kornbluth and John Podesta, to create a “Green Bank” seems to be precisely what we need.
Working in partnership with the private sector, a well constructed, public Green Bank would open credit markets and motivate businesses to invest again. It would enable clean-energy technologies—in such areas as wind, solar, geothermal, advanced biomass, and energy efficiency—to be deployed on a large scale and become commercially viable at current electricity costs.
And see this report from Mariah Blake at the Washington Monthly on the importance and obstacles to a digital electric power system.
Tags: electric grid, Green technology, John Podesta, Karen Kornbluth, Mariah Blake
