Here’s the main reason I couldn’t get within a million miles of an elected position in the US: I wouldn’t vote for the political grandstanding represented by legislation like the “No More Solyndras” Act. I wouldn’t be a part of obscuring from the American people that energy sector loan guarantees from the federal government have resulted in a huge number of successes, many thousands of jobs, and the development of technology that will have a real and permanent positive effect on the world’s energy picture.
Americans cheer on this type of nonsense, and that doesn’t speak too highly of us. We don’t seem to have our wits wrapped around a few basics, one of which is that the US is clearly and rapidly falling behind in the arena of innovation generally and in energy particularly. In 2009, for the first time ever, the US Patent Office granted a majority of its overall patents to foreign nations/companies. And nowhere is America losing faster and more obviously than energy. This bill, if passed, will seal our fate, relegating us to the world’s scrapheap in terms of technology leadership.
Another tragic failure of Americans is our inability to “follow the money.” As shown here, oil and coal companies represented three of bill co-sponsor Fred Upton’s top five campaign contributors. If you can think of something more shameful than this blatant conflict of interest, I hope you’ll write in and tell me what it is.
