Thomas Friedman Column: "Bailout (and Buildup)"

New York Times op-ed columnist Thomas Friedman's recent column "Bailout (and Buildup)" steadfastly refuses to sacrifice our "budding clean-tech revolution" on the altar of financial recovery. Friedman, whose latest book is Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America, rightfully worries that the return of gasoline prices to under $2 a gallon, after a summer of $4 gas, sends the wrong signal.

This was then:

Americans drove less, polluted less, exercised more, rode more public transportation and, most importantly, overwhelmed Detroit with demands for smaller, more fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric cars. The clean energy and efficiency industries saw record growth — one of our few remaining engines of real quality job creation.

This is now:

But with little credit available today for new energy start-ups, and lower oil prices making it harder for existing renewables like wind and solar to scale, and a weak economy making it nearly impossible for Congress to pass a carbon tax or gasoline tax that would make clean energy more competitive, what will become of our budding clean-tech revolution?

Today's bailout mentality compounds the problem ... but if the bailout is handled right, it could be a blessing in disguise:

“Is the economic crisis going to be the end of green?” asks David Rothkopf, energy consultant and author of “Superclass.” “Or, could green be the way to end the economic crisis?”

It has to be the latter. We can’t afford a financial bailout that also isn’t a green buildup — a buildup of a new clean energy industry that strengthens America and helps the planet.

To turn the panic bailout into a green buildup, we need:

• Mandated clean energy generation: by congressional mandate, that "every utility in the country ... produce 20 percent of its power from clean, non-CO2-emitting, energy sources — wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, biomass — by 2025"
• Consumer incentives to save energy: "that every state move its utilities to a system of 'decoupling-plus' ... getting paid for how much electricity or gas they get you to save," not how much they get you to use
• Tax incentives for clean energy technology: such that "any company that invests in new domestic manufacturing capacity for clean energy technology — or procures any clean energy system or energy savings device that is made by an American manufacturer — can write down the entire cost of the investment via a tax credit and/or accelerated depreciation in the first year"
• Stimulus package money to modernize building codes: "money from any stimulus package ... directly incentivize and support states’ efforts to implement and intelligently modernize their building codes to get already well-established national 'best practices' quickly into their marketplaces"
• Stimulus package money to do other things: "targeted investments in scientific research, mass transit, domestic clean-tech manufacturing and energy efficiency that will make us a more productive and innovative society, one with more skills, more competitiveness, more productivity and better infrastructure"

Oh, and President Obama should lead by example ...

... starting by reinventing the inaugural parade. Get rid of the black stretch limos and double-plated armored Chevy Tahoes inching down Pennsylvania Avenue. Instead, let the next president announce that he will use no vehicles on inauguration day that get less than 30 miles per gallon. He could invite all car companies to participate in the historic drive with their best available American-made, fuel-efficient, innovative vehicle.

That last one sounds like a tall order, Tom! Can the Secret Service get a Toyota Prius with bulletproof glass?