5 Other Ways Obama Can Help Cleantech
Date: 05/06/2009
Company: RockPort Capital
Source: The Business Insider
While there’s a big focus on the giant stimulus package and the EPA’s rulings, there are smaller more incremental steps the Obama adminstration could take to help clean technology.
We spoke with David Prend, managing general partner at Rockport Capital about what some of those steps could be. Prend has over 30 years of experience in the field of alternative energy working for Amoco, Shearson Lehman, and Salomon Brothers, before starting his own venture firm, Rockport.
We asked him for three ways the government could help out cleantech, aside from the stimulus bill. He went beyond our request, offering five ideas, which we’ve paraphrased:
1. Sticks don’t work, carrots do. How did Germany, become the leader in solar installation in the world? There was a concerted government effort that worked and worked well. Utilities had to buy solar power at marked up rates, which encouraged solar panel production. Rather than say ‘don’t produce dirty energy,’ the effect is to say, ‘do create clean energy.’