10-10-10

A Day of Global Action

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Congratulations to 350.org for an awesome day of action. And congratulations to everyone who made today a truly global statement. People all over the world, in 188 countries, in 7347 separate events, showed that they want action--on climate change, on clean energy, on creating a better world. Check out the pictures to see what mass action in the 21st Century looks like.

Wanted: Business Leadership

The Climate is Changing—Are Our Leaders?

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Duke Energy has had a dubious history on the environment, on labor relations and on civil rights.

In recent years, however, there have been signs of better corporate citizenship. Duke was a founding member of the US Climate Action Partnership. It quit its membership in the National Association of Manufacturers in large part because of that organization's refusal to be serious about the impacts of climate change. More recently, CEO Jim Rogers has resigned his position on the board of the US Chamber of Commerce.

A recent interview with Rogers in GreenBiz.com suggests he is an executive who dispassionately addresses threats and opportunities to his business, avoiding the robotic Kool-Aid swilling of too many of his peers and their trade and lobbying organizations. A sampling:

Trade, IP, Creativity and Civilization

Will Mercantilism Destroy Civilization?

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"The world is just beginning to get it on trade."

Mark Anderson 10/6/10

So said Mark Anderson in thought-provoking remarks at the Bellevue Club in honor of the Puget Sound Venture Club's 25th birthday. The criteria on which trade decisions are made is about to change. Today, trade decisions are based on money. Tomorrow, trade will be governed by intellectual property (IP) protection instead. This change arises from the braided strands of IP, creativity, civilization and prosperity. The economic implications are profound.

Why Clean Energy Matters

Largest Greenhouse Gas Reduction

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It's a significant part of the greenhouse gas emissions problem that exacerbates climate change:

Graphic by Emmanuelle Bournay, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

What part of this surprises you the most?

Learn more about the UN Environmental Programme here.
Download high-resolution versions of this graphic here.

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This is a repost from the Hydrovolts blog, originally posted on 2/1/10.

Where's It Wednesday II

Last week I made the first post in a series: Where's It Wednesday. Every Wednesday I'm posting a picture from somewhere in the Seattle area. Your challenge, if you want, is to guess (or deduce) where it is, and post in the comments.

The location of last week's picture is after the jump.

For this week, something a bit harder:

Government Funding for Cleantech:What Other Countries Do

The Race is On

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Around the world, more countries every day are instituting policies to promote domestic development and adoption of cleantech. Plenty of politicians are using high-minded rhetoric to exhort consumers and businesses to act, which more are, reaping real benefits. Not words, however, but deeds characterize the emerging winners in the competition for global cleantech leadership. The actions that speak loudest, and which attract business and investor attention, entail financial support from government that lowers costs or boosts revenue for cleantech development. Such support can take many forms, and various countries and governments are trying myriad approaches seeking the most effective in realizing the benefits of stimulating the cleantech industry.

Many things have been tried, and an enormous number of countries' governments have made investments in developing cleantech industry within their national borders. Approaches run the gamut: relaxed regulations, expedited permitting, market development, research and development clusters, demonstration centers, low-interest loans, loan guarantees, subsidies, feed-in tariffs, tax breaks, mandates, import/export restrictions, renewable portfolio/energy standards, direct investment, and grants. By one estimate, 15 governments committed $188B of green stimulus funding in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, 45% from the Asia-Pacific region.



Cleantech Investment through 2009

 Here's a partial look at what some governments have been doing:

Climate Peacocks

Venal Political Reasons Trump Sound Policy

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Laws and sausages. And it took energy policy down with it.

It's all about the optics—nothing more

We're All Guinea Pigs Now

No Exit: Corexit in the Foodchain

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Corexit is claimed, without benefit of much proof, to be safe. But do we really know what it's doing to the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico? Judge for yourself:



It'll be a while before I eat the seafood.

Also sickening: Nalco, the maker of Corexit, is a new addition to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

Oiling the Machine

Oil Lobbying Gets the Government it Pays For

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President Obama has finally admitted the obvious: there will be no climate and energy bill until 2011. As another example of his tendency towards unilateral compromise, he now suggests that legislation may be done in "chunks" rather than as part of a comprehensive, balanced effort.
What he doesn't admit is that there may never be a climate and energy bill of any ambition, that departs from the status quo, and that undertakes the sometimes difficult but nonetheless critical steps to make real the vision of a better future for energy and for the economy.

Nor can Obama or really any politican admit the obvious reason, that they, as players in this game, have been bought off. Follow the money:

Choosing Ignorance

Not Everyone Wants to Learn Lessons

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William K. Reilly (L)
and Bob Graham (R)

We need to identify the causes of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Drawing the correct lessons and crafting better regulations and processes to prevent a recurrence require a careful examination of the facts and circumstances. The work of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, appointed by President Obama, aims for just this result. Yet the co-chairs of the Commission have declared that some of the "parties" to the disaster are "hindering" their probe and have requested subpoena power from Congress so that they can complete the full report on time by January.

The House agreed, voting 420-1 in June. No surprise, the Senate is another story:

The Future of Green Jobs

There won't be one without coordinated effort from business, labor and government. And government needs to take the lead, especially in formulating a real and strong energy policy. Lack of regulatory and policy certainty is paralyzing investment in our future energy economy, costing both jobs and our increasingly tenuous status as a presumptive global leader in cleantech.

In a speech today to Gen44, Obama said:

We cannot let this country fall backwards... We've started investing again... in home-grown clean energy... I want [future clean energy technology] built all right here in the United States of America, because we're all about making it here in America.

Watch it:



But Obama said of energy policy recently that "we may have to end up having to do it in chunks, as opposed to some sort of comprehensive legislation." If he also truly believes that "energy is our great project, this generation's great project" then he should reject the piecemeal approach to which he is gravitating. Such baby steps will prolong the uncertainty so badly that it will do more harm than good; especially after our sclerotic Congress gets done with its inevitable, glacial, ritual evisceration of even these ultimately modest proposals.

Strong bold leadership is needed to unabashedly advocate for comprehensive, long-lasting policy, not faint gestures that destroy confidence, sending investment off-shore. We need only look at the example of other countries to see what can be done.

Said Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, "Germany is the world’s leader in solar. It’s not because Germany is sunny."

Where's It Wednesday

I like puzzles. One that I enjoy on-line is What's It Wednesday at the excellent blog Scholars & Rogues. Every Wednesday they post a picture... of something. The challenge is to figure out what it is. It's fun; check it out.

In that spirit I offer Where's It Wednesday.

Every Wednesday I'll post a picture from somewhere in the Seattle area. Your challenge, if you want, is to guess (or deduce) where it is, and post in the comments. No prizes, at least for now. If I get enough interest maybe that will change!

Starting off with a pretty easy one:

Answer next Wednesday.

Cleantech in the Northwest

Expert Panel Provides Insight

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Moderator Kha Dang readies a question for (L-R) Brad
Zenger, Michael Butler, Jeff Canin and (not shown)
Rick Lefaivre and Byron McCann

Some of the best industry panels locally are put on by law firm Perkins Coie, who always manages to assemble speakers culled from the local industry A-list. Last Thursday was no exception, as Perkins attorneys Bruce Dick and Kha Dang hosted a stimulating and lively panel of cleantech experts in the fabulous Dome Room of the Arctic Hotel. On the dais were Brad Zenger of Pivotal Investments, Michael Butler of Cascadia Capital, startup CEO and angel investor Jeff Canin, OVP partner Dr. Rick Lefaivre, and Byron McCann of Ascent Partners, who also heads the Pacific Northwest region of the Cleantech Open.

Evan Scandling has a good post over at NW Cleantech that hit the highlights, so I'll just add a few other things from my notes that struck me as also finding broader concurrence from the panel.

Hot Yoga

When Survival Itself is a Triumph

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I've decided (at the urging of my utterly fit wife) to take up hot yoga.

No doubt you've heard the bon mot: "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

But there are a lot of things that don't kill one and I doubt they make one stronger in any but the most limited sense. Staring at the ocean. Eating breakfast. Calling your Mum.

What is meant I think is doing something hard, or painful. And surviving.

I wonder if one is made stronger correspondingly to how near to death one gets. If so, and judging by my first day at it, I can anticipate being some kind of superman should hot yoga actually not kill me.

A Distant Mirror

Hazy Reflection

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The Osborne 1 "Luggable" Computer

It feels exactly this way to me too. But as was true then, there will be many cleantech startups analagous to Osborne, Kaypro, Wang, and even Digital. There were also Context MBA, Quattro Pro, Word Perfect, and DB3. Even the big names had their Xenix, PS/2 and Apple III failures. Many will be the first movers and pioneer markets only to see other fast followers prevail. There are already plenty of signs that investors await the shake-out, and are passing on the innovators in immature markets.

The danger, for those that care about such things, is that those who win will not be based in the US. History rhymes, but the changed game has a new tune.

There Ought To Be a Law

How Little Work Can They Do?

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Q: What do you call the favor an official demands of you before they will do their job?

A: A bribe.

Except if, like Democrat Mary Landrieu, you're a member of the US Senate, where it is business as usual. If you're a member of what was once called, incredibly, The World's Greatest Deliberative Body, you spend most of your time finding supposedly principled ways of avoiding doing your job. You don't debate. You don't negotiate. You don't craft policy. You don't work to make legislation. Except for hitting up campaign donors you don't do anything until you get the bribe you demand.

Landrieu will not support renewable energy legislation until she gets a full return to unrestricted offshore drilling. Said Landrieu:

I can’t support anything related to energy unless this moratorium gets lifted and permits start being issued in the Gulf [of Mexico], or we are not going to have any energy to power the country with.

Is it soliciting a bribe? Or extortion?

In any other profession, she'd be fired or indicted.

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Update: Bipartisanship isn't completely dead. It just shows up where it isn't welcome. Loiusianna's other Senator, Republican David Vitter, whose best known accomplishment involves diaper fetishes and prostitutes, agrees with Landrieu.

Dow Jones Sustainability Index

The New Greenwashing

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Not really being green.
Instead, shades of gray

The value of being sustainable is increasingly recognized and there is a growing movement to be sustainable and to select sustainable businesses and practices. No surprise then that hype and confusion are also growing, especially where there is money at stake. The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes "track the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide."

The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) covers the top 10% of the biggest 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.

So no surprise after the Gulf of Mexico disaster they removed BP from the list.

As a component of the DJSI World Index, BP was subject to index rules that allow for elimination from the DJSI following extraordinary events... The extent of the oil-spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and its foreseeable long-term effects on the environment and the local population – in addition to the economic effects and the long term damage to the reputation of the company – were included in the analysis leading up to BP’s removal.

Monitoring of crisis events

assess how well the company informs the public, acknowledges responsibility, provides relief measures, involves relevant stakeholders and develops solutions.

But wait! Who's the new company they just added? Darth Cheney's Haliburton?! Really? This is, after all, a company also complicit in fouling the Gulf.

We are left to draw one of two wretched conclusions:

• "Sustainability" means something a bit different to Dow Jones.
• Haliburton really is in the 90th percentile in sustainability amongst the 2500 largest global corporations.

Startup Wisdom

These are all so true. While we can tell each other amusing stories when we sit down to chat, we could also provide examples in support of each of these insights from Paul Graham (and brief comments from me):

1. Pick good cofounders. (And be clear about your criteria)
2. Launch fast. (Always be urgent)
3. Let your idea evolve. (Always be confident, but always question whether you have it right)
4. Understand your users. (Talk to as many as you can, early and often)
5. Better to make a few users love you than a lot ambivalent. (Passion, not like, is contagious)
6. Offer surprisingly good customer service. (Ask: What would you want if you were the customer?)
7. You make what you measure. (You'll also make it better)
8. Spend little. (But not too little; some things are worth top dollar)
9. Get ramen profitable. (I'll stick with peanut butter)
10. Avoid distractions. (Focus. I ask many times a day: What is the objective here?)
11. Don't get demoralized. (Following the other 12 rules will create more energy than you can imagine!)
12. Don't give up. (Until you must; don't flog a dead horse)



Proceed at your own risk

13. Deals fall through. (So do startups)

The Audacity of Hope?

Or The Foolhardiness of Wishful Thinking?

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President Obama's lack of conviction on climate and energy policy is now undeniable. His vacillating remarks on off shore oil drilling over the past few months illustrate his lack of leadership on this, the most critical issue of his presidency.

Eric Pooley over at Grist has an excerpt from his forthcoming book which lucidly surveys the Obama Administration's timeline of timidity. He concludes:

It is a cruel irony that the epic disaster in the Gulf -- a wakeup call to the need to reduce our dependence on oil -- makes it harder to pass a bill that would help us do so. Expanded offshore drilling (and the revenue it would bring) was the chip Obama hoped to use to draw oil-state senators into a grand bargain that would also include subsidies for nuclear power and carbon capture and storage, with a modest carbon cap in return. The oil spill blew up that idea by taking expanded offshore drilling off the table, at least for now. With few chips left, Obama appears to be hoping that public anger over the spill can help drive a new version of the climate bill. Soon, we’ll know whether he really means it. Democratic leaders in the Senate have been floating the idea of an energy bill without a carbon cap -- which would be yet another failure of nerve by a group of legislators badly in need of adult supervision. Passing a real climate bill will be excruciatingly difficult. Waiting will only make it harder. It’s time for Obama to intervene on the Hill, silence the naysayers inside his own administration, harness the public mood, and make good on his promise to fight.

So this is what the audacity of hope looks like--wishing for the First Nerd to remove his figurative glasses and punch back at the bullies. But he won't. Ever cerebral, Obama doggedly appeals to the non-existent good intentions of his opponents, believing that reason and patience will yield agreement. In time, onlookers feel contempt, not sympathy. The notion that Obama will risk any political capital to lead a fight is not a bold hope, but a limp wish.

Do Your Work and Then Step Back

Fill your bowl to the brim
    and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
    and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
    and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
    and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work and then step back.
The only path to serenity.

--The Tao Te Ching, 9
   Stephen Mitchell