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 Obama's Stimulus Plan: A Foundation for Growth?
In Northern Virginia today, Barack Obama addressed the nation, introducing a few basic goals and guidelines for an economic stimulus package that could cost as much as a trillion dollars. Calling 2009 a "clean break from a troubled past," the President-elect announced that he would invest in crucial areas such as energy, infrastructure, innovation, health care and education.
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 The Danger of Green Stimulus
The Huffington Post has featured an op-ed by Teryn Norris and Jesse Jenkins, "The Danger of Green Stimulus," which issues a cautionary note about losing sight of climate objectives amidst all the fervor about green jobs and green stimulus. With green jobs now positioned as "the solution" to both the economy and the climate, Obama has cover to take the politically expedient but dangerous route of short-term green stimulus while ignoring serious climate policy.
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 Forget Roads and Rebates: Why the Stimulus Should Invest in Innovation and Productivity
There's nearly unanimous consensus that a major stimulus investment is needed to stave off economic disaster. How the next administration plans to fit this stimulus into a larger economic revitalization plan, however, is still unclear. Unfortunately, a short-term focus on roads and rebates won't be enough to stave off a new depression or put our economy back on track. Instead, we must focus on investments that can both act as short-term stimulus and improve the long-term productivity of the US economy. And that means investing in innovation.
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 Friedman Can't Be Bothered With the Facts of Tech Innovation
Times columnist Thomas Friedman writes as though the highways, the broadband networks, and the personal computers he loves were created through tax incentives rather than government contracts. It's reminiscent of when Friedman claimed that we would get an E.T. revolution just like we got the I.T. revolution --- through strict regulation -- as though we created cheap microchips and personal computers through a cap and trade on typewriters. Friedman would do well to devote less time to inventing empty catchphrases and more time to learning and thinking about the history of government funded IT components (microchips, the Internet), the history of government-funded energy breakthroughs (solar, wind and nuclear) and the recent death of market fundamentalism, the view that government shouldn't make precisely the kinds of investments that were necessary to create the I.T. revolution and are necessary today to create the E.T. revolution.
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Will Energy Efficiency Stimulus Distract America from the Technology Gap?
An efficiency stimulus plan seems at first glance to be an unadulterated good: it puts Americans to work, saves energy and money, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. But there are reasons to be nervous about the overwhelming focus on energy efficiency by green leaders and Obama's top energy and climate advisors. This narrow focus threatens to distract from the critical work ahead: overcoming the technology gap that exists between the current state of today's clean energy technologies and fossil fuels.
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The Times it is a-Changin'
Embracing investment, the New York Times editorial board, including respected environmental writer Bob Semple, broke from its past focus on carbon pricing as the primary solution to climate change. It is heartening to see the Times leading the way in this shifting discourse while placing public investment in its rightful place as a core solution to climate change.
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Nuke Psych Briefing: How Fears of Proliferation, Iran, and Terrorism Drive Voters into the Arms of Neocons - and How Progressives Can Change the Debate. Dec. 2 at 9AM, Third Way Offices, 1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, #501, Washington DC. ... For press info click here or event RSVP Nandini Merz of the Proteus Fund.
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