“…the single most important thing Congress can do is to pass legislation, either through a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax, that puts a price tag on emitting carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. Doing so would make cheap, high-carbon energy – especially coal – more expensive while making investment in wind and solar power more affordable for utilities…”

 ”We can only innovate our way out of this problem by shaping the marketplace with the right rules, incentives and price signals to stimulate the kind of innovation we need – which is 10,000 innovators in 10,000 garages trying 10,000 things,”

“…a detailed list of recommendations, including new tax incentives for renewable energy, a huge boost in federal research and loan guarantees to help clean energy start-ups survive the “valley of death” – which is venture capital-speak for the period between the lab and the marketplace, when many promising technologies die for lack of funding…”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/07/MN041558UP.DTL

Several Democratic senators acknowledged that Congress’ failure to pass a climate-change bill has hamstrung investors and entrepreneurs working on clean-energy solutions.

“America increasingly gets it about the consequences of climate change,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. “Somehow this building seems to be sort of the last redoubt of people who don’t seem to get it.”

Doerr, who has been a major donor to Democratic candidates and causes and a close ally of former Vice President Al Gore, now also a partner at Kleiner Perkins, said the single most important thing Congress can do is to pass legislation, either through a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax, that puts a price tag on emitting carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. Doing so would make cheap, high-carbon energy – especially coal – more expensive while making investment in wind and solar power more affordable for utilities.

Friedman agreed. “We can only innovate our way out of this problem by shaping the marketplace with the right rules, incentives and price signals to stimulate the kind of innovation we need – which is 10,000 innovators in 10,000 garages trying 10,000 things,” he said.

Doerr gave Congress a detailed list of recommendations, including new tax incentives for renewable energy, a huge boost in federal research and loan guarantees to help clean energy start-ups survive the “valley of death” – which is venture capital-speak for the period between the lab and the marketplace, when many promising technologies die for lack of funding.

Kleiner Perkins, which invests for a select group of foundations and universities, has invested $600 million in 45 green tech start-ups, and Doerr said the firm will invest in at least 40 more over the next two years. Venture capitalists poured more than $1.8 billion into clean energy ventures in California last year and about $5 billion into green tech projects nationwide.

Friedman pointed out that the figure is just a tiny fraction of the $80 billion that was invested during the height of the information technology revolution in 2000. Doerr noted that many investors are still waiting for new federal policies and incentives to jump in. But they sense a huge opportunity in the energy industry, valued at $6 trillion annually with 4 billion customers worldwide, he said.

“It is the mother of all markets – perhaps the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” Doerr said.

Obama has shared some of the optimism, suggesting that investments in clean energy could create millions of new jobs and help pull the country out of recession. After Wednesday’s briefing, Boxer said many of Doerr’s ideas are likely to make it into the new stimulus plan and future legislation.