There are two things that raise my skepticism meter: #1 Politicians. #2 The word Green.
I believe politicians’ motives should always be questioned. It’s a good idea to suspect the first 100 or so things they say, before they get to the real deal.
And Green has been splashed over everything to sell stuff, even a Bamboo Baby Hat (real) and a Grass Cell Phone (conceptual).
So why, in the midst of AIG bonuses and stuffing taxpayer money into banks, should the idea of the US government funding another bank with $10 billion sound worthwhile?
Here’s why: A Green Bank to Fund Clean Energy!
“Tuesday, March 24, 2009, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Assistant to the Speaker, introduced the Green Bank Act of 2009. The legislation creates the Green Bank as an independent, tax-exempt, wholly owned corporation of the United States. The Bank’s exclusive mission will be to provide a comprehensive range of financing support to qualified clean energy and energy efficiency projects within the territorial United States…
The Green Bank Act of 2009 would do the following:
- Create the Green Bank as an independent, tax-exempt, wholly owned corporation of the United States with the exclusive mission of providing a comprehensive range of financing support to qualified clean energy and energy efficiency projects within the territorial United States.
- Provide the Green Bank with an initial capitalization of $10 billion through the issuance of Green Bonds by the Department of Treasury, with a maximum authorized limit of $50 billion in Green Bonds outstanding at any one time.
- Assist in advancing vital national objectives — including transitioning to a clean energy economy, job creation through the construction and operation of clean energy and energy efficiency projects, abating climate change, energy independence from foreign sources, and fostering long-term domestic manufacturing capacity in clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.
- Include robust spending safeguards and public disclosure requirements to ensure that the Green Bank operates at the highest levels of efficacy, accountability and transparency.“
Now I don’t know how you feel about more taxpayer money being spent, but I can buy into this one.
Why? Because:
- It respects entrepreneurship by providing those who qualify with the capital to get things done
- It honors the competitive marketplace by not saying who’s to be successful and who’s not
- And it puts taxpayer money to work:
- Creating green jobs that will help the US economy
- Creating clean energy production & energy efficient products/projects
- Helping slow climate change
- Reducing dependence on foreign energy sources
What’s not to like?
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Chris Arlen
President, Service Performance
Technorati: Green Bank Act of 2009, clean energy, green jobs
