Stakeholders in Barack Obama's America
I know this is a break from our regularly schedule programming, but I wanted to inject a little political commentary today. I promise not to do this more than once a week.
In one of his most recent speeches, "Two Pillars of a New Foundation," President Obama lays out his vision for a new, more stable prosperity. These pillars are affordable health care and clean energy. He states that, "[f]or the first time, utility companies and corporate leaders are joining, not opposing, environmental advocates and labor leaders to create a new system of clean energy initiatives that will help unleash a new era of growth and prosperity." He describes these corporate and union leaders as "stakeholders" from all sectors of the economy.
But we're all stakeholders in the American economy. I don't belong to a union or work for a large corporation. Where is my representative in this process? Is this just the beginning of the next ethanol scam? The last time the American government invested in green technology, we wound up giving subsidies to Archer Daniels Midland and driving up the price of corn. This time we may be buying windmills from T. Boone Pickens, smart grids from IBM and creating productivity-sapping make-work for members of well-connected unions.The worst part is that we're meant to believe that these are all wise investments in our future, made on our behalf by the best and the brightest.
The truth is that this "new system of clean energy initiatives" will almost certainly be a laundry list of handouts to those lucky or rich enough to have a seat at the table. After all, nobody really knows what technologies have potential and which ones don't. If we could tell now which green technologies would pave the way toward a renewable energy future, private capital would be pouring in. Barack Obama and the shadowy cabal that will henceforth be planning our "energy policy" need to clearly explain their investment strategy and why the private sector won't invest in green technology if it will create so many jobs and is such an obviously lucrative market.