At five days old, Joe Klein's column in the latest issue of Time (With the FDR-like Obama on the front) touched on some of the possible plans the Obama Administration has for energy. Sure, we may have read his "blueprint for change" and his website and heard him speak over and over about alternative energy, a greener future, new green jobs, less dependency on foreign oil, etc. etc.
But it looks like we may have some details.
The Center for American Progress (CAP), run by Obama's transition chief, John Podesta, has some specifics for us all. And I like the sound of them. As Klein puts it:
[They]drafted a green-energy stimulus plan of [their] own. "We identified $50 billion in programs that are ready to go immediately," says Bracken Hendricks of CAP. "The package would create 2 million jobs across the skill spectrum, from blue collar to high tech, and in almost every area of the country. There was huge congressional appetite for this even before the economic crisis hit."
The package — which could easily be doubled to $100 billion — would have five components:
• A green bailout for the automakers, with a quid pro quo: they would have to increase fuel-efficiency standards in their cars at least 4% per year and make major investments in new battery technology for plug-in hybrids.
See, this is what I am talking about. All we hear on the news is a broad "bail out plan" for the car companies. Something as broad as that I don't even really want. However, I understand that the job loss we would see if these car companies were to go under would be catastrophic.
Something like the above would give the companies a boost, and force them to actually focus on energy efficient and, for the time being, fuel efficient, cars. I mean, these are the companies that we have heard for years say hybrids are not profitable, they won't sell, all the while making way too many SUVs that aren't selling - basically, the car companies have been less than proactive in making the "leap" into new technologies, fuel efficient cars, etc. The CAP idea forces them to, and they need a little bit of force.
• A green-infrastructure fund to make existing public buildings more energy-efficient and provide homeowners with tax breaks to do the same. "This could help revive the construction industry," Hendricks says.
This is a must. I always thought we needed something along these lines, and that feeling was emphasized when I learned just how much some companies waste. For example, the Washington, DC Metro is almost purposely wasting energy, and their own money (no wonder the DC metro system can't expand it's rails any further).
•Tax credits for companies that produce wind and solar energy and energy conservation products like fiberglass insulation. According to Hendricks, there are companies ready to build wind farms in the Midwest and solar farms in the Southwest if they can be guaranteed that there will be a market for their products even if oil prices drop.
Germany has been doing something similar, and giving its' residents subsidies for retrofitting their homes. The Obama Administration can start the above credits and benefits fairly fast (high five for getting things done!).
Here are the rest:
• Construction of a new "smart" electric grid to deliver the power generated by wind, solar and geothermal plants in rural areas to the major population centers. This would be a down payment on the $400 billion over 10 years that Al Gore has estimated the new grid will ultimately cost — although, Gore says, the savings in energy efficiency could pay for the grid in three years. The new smart technology would figure out the cheapest and most efficient times to run everything from major heating and cooling systems in public buildings to your clothes dryer.
• Increased investment in mass transit. Hendricks says there are $20 billion to $30 billion in local-rail and alternative-energy bus projects that have already been approved by Congress but not yet funded by the Federal Government.