StimPack - Here's how to Really Rev the Engine

StimPack. Sounds like something you'd get at the physical therapist's office or pick up at the pharmacy to get off some addiction. It's actually the short-hand name inside the beltway types are giving the new Stimulus Package that the President and Congress are preparing for the struggling (drowning?) economy.

Sounds like the basic outlines of the bill are already in place. There is a lot of good measures to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. I applaud that whole-heartedly. Where I get the heartburn is knowing that the massive Federal financial injection is going to end up in the hands probably exclusively of large, Fortune 500 type businesses. There will be no crumbs for the little guys.

The thing that really irks me is that leaders of both parties are constantly talking about "small businesses" in America. How we are the engines of growth and innovation, the doers, the risk takers. You'd think all this lip service to small businesses would translate to real dollars when StimPack comes around. You'd be wrong.

Let's take one example. There is an excellant provision to provide loan guarentees for renewable energy projects. Sounds great. Problem is that a small business will have extreme difficulty accesing that, or any other loan guarentee. See, we don't have the paid lawyers, lobbyists, or government procurement staff that the big companies do. We don't have the ability to devote countless hours to navigating the Federal waters like the big guys do. We don't have the ready access to large capital that the Fortune 500 companies do.

Yet, I believe that money given to small businesses has a direct impact on the local economies where those businesses are located. Instead of giving billions to large companies, how about giving billions to small businesses? I know what the impact of a loan guarentee or even a direct financial infusion would have on Clean Currents. We'd immediately hire people, spend money right here in the DC area, and invest in renewable energy projects. Money wouldn't sit on our balance sheets as it would with large companies. It would be directly injected into the local economy.

So, here comes StimPack. Hopefully it will work. And if it's not too late, maybe there can be a carve out for small businesses. After all, we are the engine that drives the economy.

Let's Give Carbon Tax a Whirl

With the new President and Congress getting set to (finally!) tackle climate change, the mainstream commentariat seems to be almost exclusively focusing on what is called a "cap and trade" system, whereby the overall level of greenhouse gas emissions is capped, but polluters who can't meet the cap have options to trade for credits or allowances. Very few are talking about the easiest, most direct way to change the market and lower greenhouse gas emissions - a carbon tax. Now, out of the blue, or should I say, out of the sludge and muck, comes word that Exxon Mobil has come out in favor of a carbon tax! This is, after all, the company that spent years and millions of dollars funding bogus "research" to say climate change is a myth. So, should we view this as a dastardly plot to trick people into supporting a carbon tax or should we take them at their word and try to pass legislation (with their support?).

I say give it a whirl.

Many economists believe a carbon tax is the best way to attack climate change. There is no need to create a complicated trading scheme, nor is there any room for gaming the system. It's a very straight forward approach - a tax on carbon emissions. Yes, this would impact our gas prices, and electricity prices... but that's a good thing. We need loud and clear price signals to make the market work. This is what happened earlier in 2008. When gas prices skyrocketed, sales of gas hogging SUVs dropped. Now that gas prices are lowering, sales of gas hogging SUVs are increasing. I'm not an economist, but even I can see the relationship there!

Politically, some people are afraid to death of the word, "tax." But I have more faith in the American people. They understand the need to stop climate change and know that some things must change. Setting a strong price signal will allow clean energy and green tech companies to invest in growth without fear of too-low fossil fuel prices.

And heck, maybe the folks at Exxon Mobil will actually lobby for it!