Driving The Technology Market For Energy

From today's EEI newsletter:

[New York Governor] Spitzer said he wanted to commit the state to being a leading force in energy reduction. He was quoted as saying: "If government buys fighter planes, we drive the military-industrial complex. Likewise, if government buys clean power, we drive the technology market for wind generators. By embracing ambitious energy efficiency standards and renewable energy goals throughout state government, we will catalyze the growth of the clean power industry." Spitzer made his comments at a corporate executive breakfast sponsored by Crain’s New York Business.

Wrote the Times: "In his speech, Spitzer said that imposing the new standards would ultimately cost less than building new capacity to meet any extra demand. He said that it currently costs one-third as much to save a given amount of energy through efficiency programs as it would to produce the same amount of energy by building a new power plant."

Spitzer makes an excellent point. Government buying can drive the market. If the government only buys energy-efficient cars, it gives manufacturers a huge incentive to produce economical energy-efficient cars and that, in turn, makes such cars more available to everyday consumers. The same, of course, is true if the government will only buy power from renewable resources, will only buy organic food, will only buy green buildings. It's time, and past time, for lots more of this.