Clean energy conditions: Never worse, never better

June 27, 2:39 PMEnergy ExaminerJohn Guerrerio

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Volcanos, like other natural forces, represent the death and birth of other processes.

Conditions in the clean energy sector have never been worse and have never been better, depending on length of time data is compared within the industry.  When one looks back over the past decade and sees the number of clean energy technologies that have worked their way into the mainstream and improved on their own efficiencies, things have never been better; when one takes a look at the way the recent recession has crippled investment capital or the visceral language being used to describe the clean energy movement, things have never been worse.

The recent passing of the climate and energy bill through the House of Representatives is an indication of just how far climate and energy issues have made their way through the mindset of the general American public and their representative bodies; but to compare the bill that has passed to the original document before it was put on the chopping block reveals just how weak and watered down the version we received is.  Businesses simply have too much influence in Washington and are more interested in polishing their green image at the moment, running commercials, more than they are interested in adopting new regulations that are bound to hurt their financial bottom lines.

Never worse are the conditions surrounding available capital; with a majority of financial firms, private equity, and venture capital all averse to even moderate risk, the renewable energy market is left to consolidate and depend upon government assistance; but these times of consolidation and government intervention are an indication that clean energy is entering a new era.  No one in the business community balked much when investment firms, banks, and other lending institutions ran themselves into the ground and asked for over $1 trillion in assistance.  These houses of money had to be protected to preserve the American way of life; clean energy is now being sheltered from the current financial storm because Americans have begun to see clean energy as an integral part of their future, a defining characteristic of what it means to be an American.  Businesses are not responsible for looking after the public’s good, the government is.

When regulations for the government’s renewable energy grant and guaranteed loan programs are finally drafted, the stimulus money will flood into the clean energy markets; this should all take place beginning later this summer.  The influx of capital into the clean energy sector will ensue for almost two years.  The money will land into only the most resilient and able-bodied companies, providing investors with 30-40% gains.  With over $100 billion getting set to flood into the clean energy sector, and new government regulations which are designed to transition up to 25% of the energy market from fossil fuels to clean energy, times have never been better.

The passage of the Waxman-Markey bill through Congress yesterday signaled the dawning of a new age of climate and energy responsibility in America and the world.  No doubt, with even modest bargaining chips at the Copenhagen conference in December, China, India, Brazil, and parts of the Middle East will follow through with clean energy initiatives of their own, afraid of being left behind in the renewable revolution.  Times have never been better in terms of international competition pushing the clean energy sector forward. 

Business lobbyists in Washington will be gearing up their political attack machines now that they all seemed to misjudge just how much support clean energy has.  We will be lectured for the next several months now on ‘the largest energy tax in American history’, ‘the socialist energy revolution’, and ‘the one world order that seeks to take away American freedom’.  The WSJ and other closed-minded, corporate echo-chambers will have to work overtime to keep the American public informed about the costs of green, clean energy and misinformed about the real, true costs behind fossil fuels.  In terms of reliable information, times have never been worse.  No  one ever compares the costs of clean energy to the costs of continuing dependence on fossil fuels (wars, air pollution, environmental degradation, health risks, limited supply, species extinction, etc.)

There is no respite now that clean energy made it through the House.  The Senate will have to vote; then Copenhagen.  After that, the work of steadily increasing the percentage of our energy matrix from clean energy will have to be a relentless pursuit.  Reducing carbon emissions and protecting our natural spaces by placing a value on clean water and land is a generational shift in cognitive thinking.  The older generations simply lack the ability to consider the human species an extension of their environment.  My two year old nephew picked up a plastic bottle, looked at me the other day, and said, “I recycle it”.  With a significant majority of younger generations supporting clean energy, times have never been better.

It only takes one act to ruin a landscape, and the number of businesses that are on the fence regarding clean energy is alarming.  The number of environmental spaces at risk of being exploited is also alarming.  We are on the brink of either adapting to the situation we have inherited or running along with business as usual.  Obviously, business as usual has gotten us to this point where we are talking about clean energy, clean water and land, and generational shifts in thinking.  We know the costs of fossil fuels; businesses that are reluctant to embrace clean energy are that way only because they are unsure of the long-term savings they will receive.  Those businesses that have embraced the renewable revolution, have concrete savings under their belt and actively broadcast their strategies to others. 

People will, for all eternity, try to destroy the natural world for self-gain; it is inherent to the preservation of the ego.  To save the environment is a thankless, never-ending process; it is something we will have to continue to fight for every day that we are alive.  The day we stop fighting for a cleaner future is the day that the last remaining wild places on earth are destroyed simply for the financial gain of a ‘few greedy men’.  For the time being, though, environmentalists seem to be winning the most recent battles; times have never been better.  The fight will be long, and the outcome is uncertain; times have never been worse.

Now that the energy battle has entered the business community, we can expect to see a quickening of action as more voices weigh into the frame.