The unfortunately windy politics of clean energy stimulus

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a few cohorts, Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are pushing legislation that could potentially derail America's rapidly growing wind industry.

In response to a controversial study, which estimates that nearly 70% of stimulus funding to the wind industry is being channeled overseas, they have asked the administration to temporarily suspend the clean energy grant program, also known as "Section 1603", while they attempt to enact their legislation. They claim that American stimulus money is wasted, creating manufacturing jobs overseas rather than domestically. Instead, they propose a local content requirement, which would favor domestic manufacturers by establishing explicit restrictions on government grants. Unfortunately, the math isn't that simple.

The wind power industry depends on a lean global supply chain. One generator may use up to 8,000 parts. With public support for renewables wavering, its critical that developers pay careful attention to minimize capital costs. Since fuel is free, variable costs are limited to maintenance and administrative costs. A recent World Resources Institute report estimates the variable costs of wind projects to be less than 1% of initial capital costs. Sen. Schumar is correct in that stimulus funds might have a more immediate effect if they were spent on traditional shovel ready jobs. However, this goes against the principle aims of the stimulus bill: to facilitate the country's long-term transition towards a more stable and sustainable economy.

According to a recent statement by the American Wind Energy Association, this proposal would cost roughly 50,000 Americans their jobs. Investing stimulus funds to develop renewable energy production creates jobs by increasing the demand for infrastructure maintenance. Furthermore, government aid helps to stabilize the demand for wind turbines. As demand becomes more predictable, manufacturers will increase investment in local manufacturing. Yes, up to 70% of the stimulus grants for wind projects have gone to foreign manufacturers, but Sen. Schumer and his buddies should consider the long-term implications of this plan. Forcing project developers to "buy American" will overwhelm America's immature wind turbine manufacturers. Domestic production capacity would be insufficient if project financing is contingent local content requirements.

According to the Word Resources Report, American turbine manufacturers are capable of producing up to 50% of turbine components. Stimulus funding for clean energy projects can support the budding wind industry by providing stable and predictable demand, which will attract investment. As competition develops among the major regional manufacturers, lower component costs will make wind more competitive. This short-sighted legislation does just the opposite.

Another One Bites the Dust: GoDaddy Vacates China

Over the course of the past week, two major American Internet Corporations have made the decision to vacate China, Google and GoDaddy. GoDaddy, a web hosting conglomerate made the decision on Wedsnesday, a day after Google's announcement to end their operations in China. Is this a coincidence? Is this news surprising?

In my opinion, this neither a coincidence nor a surprise. GoDaddy and Google are American companies whose mission is to champion the First Amendment to the United States Constitution: Freedom of Speech, which is inextricably linked to the notion of Free Press. In China, like many other authoritarian regimes is famous for their continual denial of free speech. In fact, China's press is among the most controlled agencies in the country, maybe even the world. If there was an award for the most deceitful tabloid, it would be a tie beween the Xinhua state run agency and Iran's IRNA, The Islamic Republic News Run Agency.

However, what sets these two agencies apart is the fact that Xinhua attempts to operate under the guise of a legitimate news agency.

As an American, and an admitted addict to internet news, the issue of censorship is alien and discomforting. When I was perusing an article on the New York Times a few months ago about the Xinhua Agency and Google (which I can no longer access), I was struck by the author's research. This author wrote about how the Chinese Government Censorship of Google Searches and Wikipedia posts removed all references to The 1989 Tiannamen Square Protests, an event which 100,000 protestors attended, and a thousands (reports are even as high as tens of thousands) were murdered by the military.

It is precisely these gross injustices regarding freedom of the press that are so repugnant to my western ideals of freedom and liberty. The Chinese Government's systematic denial of Free Press on the Internet by strangling the very essence of what companies like Google and GoDaddy provide to their clients, the freedom to wade through infinite amounts of content, from the incredulous, to the historical, the outlandish and the inane sites, blogs and portals. This is the nature of the internet, and in an era where the internet is the most powerful forum of ideas, the debates over content and censorship will only become more heated and will continue to engage people from peons to Prime Ministers.

Suck it up and move on (Part I)

After months of vicious debate, the health care debate is finally over... or is it?

Congressional Republicans continue to embrace a highly puzzling legislative strategy. "Repeal and replace," the rallying cry a la mode, draws attention to the misguided nature of the new conservative leadership.

With support for health care reform equivocal, conservatives have begun to rally the masses in a last ditch effort to repeal the bill. America is barely recovering from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Pandering to Fox News and its ridiculous pundits can only get them so far. Its been more than sixteen years since the last attempt at reform. Nonetheless, conservatives argue America spends more per capita on health care; yet, we still have the lowest life expectancy of all the OECD countries. We have a problem. Stop whining and embrace this opportunity to do something decent!

It's about time for congressional republicans to remember why they entered the political world in the first place: to govern. Take a cue (or not) from David Frum's latest commentary on the devastating effects of radical conservatism gone awry. Through his constant apocalyptic warnings of the Democrat's socialist ambitions, House minority leader Boener has successfully distracted the public from noticing the non-partisan CBO report, which estimates that health care reform will reduce the Federal deficit by roughly $130 billion over the first ten years and $1.3 trillion in its second decade.

The public will eventually notice the effects of the bill. 95% Americans now have the support they need to become healthier and happier. If this is true, the Conservative's unanimous rejection of bi-partisanship will deny them of any credibility going into election season. Where is the upside?

The political calculus is confusing, to say the least.

To be continued...

No More Google in China. What does that mean for you?

Well, to be perfectly honest, not much if you are living outside of China proper. However, Google's departure appears to be a microcosm of the growing tension between China and the United States. In response to news that Google was leaving, a vice minister in China used Google's flight as a context to discuss the U.S.'s "faulty" claims and assumptions about the value of their currency.

I cannot help but to think that this minister is using the Google withdrawal as an opportunity to comment on the larger international tensions between China and the US. This is especially troubling when you consider that Google is a company not a government, and there is no correlation between the valuation of Chinese currency and Google's choice to withdraw. Nevertheless, this minister, much like the rest of us, sees the internet as a forum for public debate. But should it be? My guess is no, the fact that government employees are associating the actions of a internet super company with the the statements of the US government is a scary reality. But not for all of us.

Those of you who bought stock in China's search engine Baidu Corporation earlier this fall, probably have made about 56% returns. But at what cost? The ebb and flow of U.S. relations with China seem to be deteriorating, whether the argument is about trade deficits, currency valuation, or the recent sale of Black Hawk helicopters and Patriot Defense Missile systems to Taiwan.

What do you think? Is it just me or is the Google V. China death match a symbol of tension or the nature of the business cycle?

Welcome to Rant and Rave...A New Forum For Ideas

Hey everybody, I am enthralled to introduce this new blog. My name is Jamie, and my cohort Winston (green ideas/policy/econ wizard) and I are ready to create a new arena for online collaboration. We want to create an environment that fosters both interaction and discourse about the way innovations, whether technological, political or environmental affect us and the way we live.

The premise of Rant is Rave is to, well, rant and rave. We hope to find readers who are willing to engage and reflect upon innovation, and how new ideas, policies and technologies have the incredible ability to transform our society. From the topic of the Health Care bill to the latest thoughts on social media and networking. So come, invite a friend and share your ideas. We will devote an entire page that allows our readers to discuss idea, network and talk about the things that engage us.