Miller and son should clarify roles in SunPower loan scandal

So, what is the issue here, to bash Obama or Miller? It seems to me that what is more relevant is a discussion of how the country can gain a key role in an important up-and-coming technology. As we all know, among the most potent economic drivers are new technologies. With the decline in petroleum resources, as well as global warming and other issues, alternative energy, and especially developing and building manufacturing capacity on alternative energy technologies is going to be an important economic dynamic in the world. Another huge topic on the table today is the rising economic power of China. This is clearly related to alternative energy and specifically solar power. China is gaining a huge foothold here. If America can compete in this market, it will go a long way toward maintaining our economic position in the world. From this perspective, it could easily be argued that we should put hugely more subsidies into alternative energy and make sure that China does not gain dominance. This strategy would do several positive things: 1. Provide immediate jobs badly needed in this country right now, 2. Build tax and other revenues that will flow in as this industry gains a foothold, offsetting the deficit 3. Help us keep pace (actually gain back the lead we have lost) with China and others, 4. Make us less strategically dependent on non-renewable energy sources and foreign governments by providing an alternative to petroleum based energy.

As to “bad” decisions by the Obama administration, what needs to be looked at is not any one, or even two, failures, but the broad and long term investment strategy. It is clear that banks and other corporations recently made some bad investment decisions that ended up costing all of us a lot. Companies and investors invest in many ventures that fail. This does not lead them to give up on investment, but rather to look at their strategy and hone it to avoid failure and achieve success in the future.

It is hard to argue that America should abandon any attempt to compete with China and other countries in the field of alternative energy. Instead of bashing Obama and Miller, why not discuss how we can learn from past mistakes and plot a successful strategy moving forward?

–Kenoli

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