To Boldly Go … Green

Barak Obama can be an inspiration to us all at many levels.  That applies even if our main concerns may be economic.  If anyone has major economic concerns at the moment, then that man is clearly Barak Obama.

It is therefore great to see that the Obama Inauguration Will Highlight Dramatic ‘Green Energy’ Agenda

President-Elect Barack Obama will take office January 20th with the strongest commitment to renewable energy of any President in history. Obama’s widely anticipated inauguration speech is expected to highlight bold new national policies to speed America’s transition to a renewable energy economy.

Three major planks here are:

• Construction of a high-voltage “interstate highway” system
• A national policy mandating America’s electric utilities to buy a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources
• Aggressive near-term targets to reduce America’s dependence upon imported oil

Wind and solar energy companies, with a year of record growth in 2008, will gain new momentum through the first 100 days as the new Obama administration implements its green agenda.

Barak Obama has assembled a strong Green team according to Daily Planet Media as it mentioned on the 8th January:

The Obama green team is headed by Professor Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who is the new Energy Secretary and a strong advocate for America urgently moving towards carbon-free energy. Physicist Professor John Holdren at Harvard University will be President Obama’s top scientific advisor while professor Jane Lubchenco – a leading expert on the effects of global warming on oceans – will be the first woman administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Carole Browner who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton, and known for her more radical views, will lead a White House energy and climate unit. The newly appointed Labor Secretary congresswoman Hilda Solis, a strong advocate for green employment, will be a key person for planning and implementing a clean energy economy.

However despite the hopes there are skeptics:

Some analysts questioned Obama’s ability to boost spending on higher-cost renewable fuels during a recession.

“It will be more difficult to meet the alternative fuel goals if oil prices keep falling and we are in a recession,” said Phil Flynn, oil analyst with Alaron Trading in Chicago.

It will take political finesse to implement the plan, said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citigroup in New York.

“All of the details of whatever policy he wants will be heavily negotiated in the legislative arena,” Evans said.

Although there can be knee-jerk reactions when one hears the word green, that attitude can hopefully change.  Sometimes the green solution can be a positive boost to the economy. That is as true at the national level where Barak Obama must decide as it can be at the domestic level where each of us should step lightly on the earth.

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