Editors' note: Please click here for Scott Stoddard's Republican outlook on alternative energy.
America is flailing. Were nearing a second great depression, and nothing is getting done due to republicans who care more about Nancy Pelosi’s “tone” than our tanking economy. With the ignorance of corporate America apparent now more than ever it seems like we can’t trust our industry to make good choices. Fortunately there is hope, and it happens to be in the most unlikely of places: alternative energy.
Alternative energy has been an issue for quite some time. Besides the obvious environmental benefits, oil is running out and we haven’t even begun to prepare for the backlash. However, recently it seems that corporate American has taken an unprecedented progressive stride on this issue. According to the New York Times “Carmakers, including Ford, BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler, are working on prototypes. The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, recently estimated that automakers could be selling as many as two million hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars by 2020 … After that, the numbers could rise quickly, reaching 60 million by 2035 and 200 million by 2050.” Auto companies now realize that the war for petroleum is a losing battle. Now instead of manipulating funds, they are making smart progressive decisions that will undoubtedly benefit both car companies and transversely, American industry as a whole.
Even more shocking than the Auto Industry’s efforts to advance hydrogen-powered cars are role of oil companies in environmental research. According to Esquire Magazine “BP announced it would invest $8 billion in new renewable-energy technologies over the next ten years, including $1.8 billion in 2008 alone. And the company has assigned teams to develop sustainable technologies to bring affordable fuel to the world’s poor. BP is also investing in wind and solar energy in the United States and investigating new technologies such as biomass conversion and bio-based liquid fuels such as biobutanol.” While investing in clean energy is a great philanthropic gift to environmentalists, these companies are not doing it out of the graciousness of their hearts. BP is making a smart decision by recognizing and investing in the future necessity of alternative fuels. Not only will this positively affect the company by maintaining and creating jobs, but also help in the startup of companies that will create a solution to our oil dilemmas.
As I said in my last column, if America is quick to dominate this new green market, it can and most likely will be the next trend to put America back on the economic map. The investment and development of these companies in alternative energy will have nothing but positive effects on American Industry. I can say with overwhelming astonishment that for the first time in a great while, the progressive and smart decisions of corporate America will be the cause of our next market boom.
