•  I trust free-market economics to match consumer demand with supply
• I support governmental investment in research and development; not in social policy and legislation.
• I am an ardent believer in the need for energy independence for the United States.

Perhaps it’s overly simplistic, but I believe the market will match consumer demand for green products and, yes, that includes lower carbon emission energy sources, without governmental intervention. This recent opinion piece in the New York Times was instructive to me in this regard: The Copenhagen That Matters by Thomas Friedman

Government and business have a symbiotic relationship in Denmark that makes them less reliant on outside energy sources and more competitive in green technologies. Clearly, the same theories could apply here without the massive social policy experiment.

I see an analogy in the growth of the organic food industry in the United States. How many of you had ever purchased an organic food product ten years ago, five years ago? Did the government need to impose production limits for non-organic products for demand to grow? No, companies like Whole Foods accelerated pioneering efforts to educate consumers on the benefits (real or perceived) of organic products. Now, consumers choose based on that preference, and the market has moved to provide supply at reasonable price points.

I believe the same lessons apply to renewable fuels, electric cars, solar panels and CO2 emissions; thoughts?

Cheers, Matt