Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: miraje who wrote (10923)	7/8/2009 2:59:23 PM
From: RetiredNow	Respond to of 86356

It's interesting, but you are articulating sharp libertarian points of view. We could let individual companies with the profit motive take care of this problem for us, but the economy is not currently equipped to make the transition in the most efficient way. The barriers are too high for entry to spur enough competition and economies of scale. And the subsidies for oil and coal continue, despite no need for subsidies for those mature cash cow industries. So inequities need to be resolved in the market place and bridge investments provided to overcome barriers to entry. Not only that, but if we all see an oil shortage coming from peak oil, why would we not act to prepare our economy for substitutes proactively, instead of waiting until the oil shock is manifest? That kind of grand scale planning is not going to happen at the individual company level. You need a coalition of government, private industry, and academia to come together to create a plan for the future and then each group needs to execute against that plan. That is a far more efficient and effective way of approaching the problem versus the approach you are advocating. In addition, the partnership approach I'm advocating is completely consistent with free market ideals. Companies cannot plan for the long term if they have to deal with a hodgepodge of conflicting state regulations. They need consistency, certainty, and longevity in order to invest in a new industry for the long term. That is the role of a Federal Gov't plan. Set the rules, provide investment, grants, loans, and subsidies to incubate the new industry for a finite period of time. And then get out of the way and let the market and academia do the rest.