About Clean Tech Nation
WITH OTHER NATIONS AGGRESSIVELY FORGING AHEAD IN CLEAN TECH—INCLUDING RENEWABLE ENERGY, SMART GRID, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, AND GREEN BUILDINGS—HOW CAN THE UNITED STATES POSITION ITSELF FOR SUCCESS?
On its current path, the United States risks losing out on the most critical opportunity for job creation and global economic leadership in the 21st century. China is spending hundreds of billions on clean tech and is now the world leader in solar-panel and wind-turbine manufacturing. Germany plans to shutter all its nuclear power plants within a decade and build a new energy economy focused on renewables and efficiency. Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, India, and many others are also enthusiastically pursuing these burgeoning possibilities. If the U.S. is to remain dominant, as it has in the earlier high-tech and Internet revolutions, it needs to supercharge efforts at every level—in federal, state, and city governments, and in schools, small businesses, and large companies. Industry experts Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder combine insightful analysis with lively storytelling to assess current clean-tech leaders worldwide, while highlighting front-running U.S. cities and states. Offering a Seven- Point Action Plan for Repowering America—with such controversial steps as ending all energy subsidies within ten years, launching a national smart infrastructure bank, and creating a new breed of clean-tech investment tools modeled on the oil and gas industries—Clean Tech Nation sounds a compelling and achievable call to action.
About the Authors
Ron Pernick is founder and managing director of clean-tech research and advisory firm Clean Edge and the coauthor of two books on clean-tech business and innovation, Clean Tech Nation (HarperCollins, 2012) and The Clean Tech Revolution (HarperCollins, 2007). At Clean Edge he has coauthored more than two dozen reports on clean technologies, markets, and policies and oversees the firm’s research, event production, index publishing, and advisory services. He has taught MBA-level courses at Portland State University and New College, is widely quoted in the media, and is a regular speaker at industry events in the U.S. and abroad. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and two children.
Clint Wilder is senior editor at clean-tech research and advisory firm Clean Edge and the coauthor of two books on clean-tech business and innovation, Clean Tech Nation (HarperCollins, 2012) and The Clean Tech Revolution (HarperCollins, 2007). He is an award-winning business journalist who has covered the high-tech and clean-tech industries since 1985. He coauthors reports and writes columns on industry trends for Clean Edge and has been a facilitator at the Clinton Global Initiative. He is a frequent speaker at clean-energy and green business events in the U.S. and overseas, and a regular blogger for the Huffington Post. He lives with his wife in Sausalito, California.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank our colleague, Trevor Winnie, whose tireless contributions in both research and writing made him a true partner in the completion of this book. Trevor Winnie is senior research analyst at Clean Edge and has served as coauthor on a number of the firm’s reports, including the annual Clean Energy Trends series. He is involved in the development and production of the firm’s State Clean Energy and Metro Clean Tech Index advisory service and NASDAQ® Clean Edge® stock indexes, and contributes regular industry insight columns to the company’s website.