June 28th, 2009
Repubs say the Waxman-Markey bill is DOA in Senate
There was not a kind word to heard be from the Republican Party today about the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill. Obama calls the bill “bold and necessary.” The Republicans called it names. Waxman-Markey would change many aspects of federal law on energy, air pollution and global warming.
Amazingly one reader smart enough to find the ZDnet website does not understand why this issue matters here. “Why is this on ZDNet?” That was when I blogged about this bill’s rough road ahead in the Senate.
OK, allow me to belabor the obvious, well, I thought it was obvious. Green technology does not grow or die in a vaccuum. One active ingredient in the recipe for new tech is often money. And this bill has everything to do with how money flows in the energy sector, around air pollution and many aspects of technology connected with those factors.
One recent concrete example. I suspect it is not a result of my blogging but the vote results on the Waxman-Markey bill that sent the stock of a green tech company up on Friday. The company was one I recently blogged about, World Energy Solutions. Like it or not, they make the software that runs America’s only existing cap and trade system. You think that company’s fate is not directly linked to the fate of Waxman-Markey? You think their stock won;t zoom if the Senates OKs cap and trade?
Not to mention all the engineers and researchers working on solar, carbon sequestration, new generation coal plants, wind, servers, wave power, smart grid, batteries, plug-in cars…the list actually includes just about any firm that has ever appeared in any green tech blog here or elsewhere. And university and federal labs across the land. This legislation could be crucial to the failure or success of many companies, new and old, that have anything to do with energy, even if they simply buy a lot of electricity. Sorry for all that verbiage, but it sometimes amazes me to realize there are folks reading this who fail to see basic connections. Nothing, not even the legendary cheese, stands alone in a global economy. Guess that means I’m not a libertarian, huh?
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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