Resources
| article | synopsis | |
|---|---|---|
Green: The Rise of a New Investment Asset Class 9 October, 2008 UtilliPoint Issue Alert | The continuing financial storm is damaging investor portfolios, but there is safe harbor in this maelstrom and that safe harbor is green. The rising green investment sector is not correlated to many other asset classes. Green encompasses a variety of financial instruments and opportunities. While it can be argued that it is relatively small today, the uptrend will continue for many decades, despite all the analogies to the tech bubble and the dotcom crash. What is really being addressed is the decarbonization of the global economy. It is a decade-long process that will re-evaluate investments, assets and companies going forward. Green screens are beginning to emerge and they do some of this analytical work but the bottom line question is, "Will green bring green returns?" | |
Cloud with a Green Building Lining: Financial Bailout Extends Section 179D(a) Deduction for Energy Efficient Commercial Building 1 October, 2008 greenbuildings.com | Some of the pork added to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout appears to be organic. The 2008 financial stimulus package extends the tax deduction for Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings for five years (until 2013). | |
Missing in Action: Effective U.S. Energy and Environmental Policy 17 September, 2008 UtilliPoint Issue Alert | It's sad to take a hard look and observe the lack of any effective or comprehensive energy policy over the last 30 years, since the oil shocks of the 1970s. While energy continues to be in the headlines, the solutions proposed by both Republicans and Democrats are piecemeal, self- serving and ineffective. Listening to the hype of the "greening" of America from the "food for fuels" proponents is nonsensical. Does America suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder, experiencing too many distractions to actually contemplate long-term solutions to complex problems? Solutions require heavy lifting and don't have the immediate political pay off of a ribbon-cutting ceremony. A green initiative for wind and natural gas proposed by one self-serving billionaire doesn't cut it either. The media vortex needs grist for the mill. So, if it sounds half good, it may be worth a try. This is intellectual laziness. | |
Timing is Everything: The Case for Energy Efficiency 15 August, 2008 UtilliPoint Issue Alert | Sometimes a great idea requires great timing to ignite public recognition and action. Energy efficiency has long been a great idea; however, not until the recent convergence of higher sustained energy prices and demand for carbon footprint reduction has the case for widespread adoption of energy efficiency measures become so compelling. Moreover, today's technology is better, more reliable and ready to be massively deployed in a new trading market based on energy efficiency portfolio standards and white certificates (a/k/a white tags, negawatts, energy saving certificates). | |
Education Breeds Market Liquidity 1 June, 2008 Exec Magazine | Peter Fusaro is on the cover of Exec Magazine, and featured in an interview, discussing his career, work, and thoughts about the future. | |
What People Know and Don't Know About Energy & Environment 14 May, 2008 UtilliPoint Issue Alert | I recently attended Goldman Sachs' third annual alternative energy conference in New York, along with 1,000 others. The take away is that is there is increased investor interest in the sector, but the key stumbling block is still the lack of regulatory certainty for the deployment of more capital. Public policy in the climate change arena is diffuse as a patchwork of state actions has replaced the lack of federal action on both energy and environmental issues. That's all about to change. What is imperceptible to the policy pundits is the power of the Internet to activate the polity to foment change at the grassroots. For example, today, 600 U.S. cities have taken the lead on climate change. As Al Gore stated at the Goldman Sachs event, "The world is awakening to the absolute necessity to adopt a carbon strategy." I will add, finally, the U.S. Federal government, just not this current administration. | |
We Can Do Better on Energy & Environmental Policy 17 March, 2008 UtilliPoint Issue Alert | There is a definite lack of long-term vision on energy and environmental policy which reflects a myopic view of how the world works. Politicians are timid. They don't level with their constituents that the road to a greener and cleaner world will cost them more money. We are fed platitudes. We are told that this shortfall will all come out in the wash, magically, or by appropriations or a "carbon tax". There is no "free lunch." It is going to cost American consumers more in everything they do and everything they buy because de-carbonization of the U.S. economy will cost big money. Waving a magic wand will not catapult us into the Promised Land. | |
Why Energy Companies are Not Investing in The Future 27 February, 2008 UtilliPoint Issue Alert | The underinvestment in clean energy and clean technology is mind boggling, considering the market opportunity. Capital outlays on research and development seem not to be focused on the approaching carbon constrained world and the myriad opportunities presented. |