Renewable Energy As the Ultimate Political Football

Part of the joy of participating at the Renewable Energy Finance Forums is the diversity of people I get to know, each somehow connected to the business aspects of clean energy. I would suspect that each of the 500 – 600 people in attendance has his/her own concept of the market dynamics at play here – how it can be that a concept so desirable for so many reasons (peak oil, environmental issues, national security, job creation, etc.) could have become such a political football, one that has been so horribly fumbled over the past year or so.  

The effects of the possible (probable?) end of the PTC (production tax credit) for wind energy dominated the entire conversation for two consecutive days.  And what’s behind that?  Simple: Democrats favor it, and Republicans want to put a spear through it.  The result?  Chaos — which is good enough for those who want to see it killed.  Investors don’t like chaos.

In any case, I took the opportunity to pull my friend, stock market analyst Tom Konrad aside for a few moments and interview him for my next book: Renewable Energy – Following the Money. More on this soon.