“When did you see a $10 Billion market grow three orders of magnitude in 20 years?”
(That’s Platshon’s prediction for the growth in the lithium ion cell market as we drive more hybrid cars and new generation Electric Vehicles).
What will attract the attention of venture capitalists?
“We are looking for novelty and creativity…materials, systems, cooling…no one is going to find an execution plan because you are up against Samsung and Panasonic, the gorillas. You gotta do something that is truly novel, truly different and run like hell…cos they’re after you.”
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You’ve no doubt heard about the November ballot measure (Proposition 23) which aims to to scupper California’s landmark climate change legislation, AB 32. In this Fresh Dialogues interview, Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, didn’t pull any punches in his response to those behind the plan.
“We’re not going to sit idly by and watch you dismantle our environmental achievements… which are also economic ones,” says Carl Guardino.
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents over 300 major companies in the valley, including Google, Hewlett Packard and IBM (approximately one in three private sector jobs) provides a proactive voice for Silicon Valley businesses on public policy issues, locally and in Sacramento and Washington D.C.
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Here’s a recap of the issue:
AB 32 is the Golden State’s attempt to cap carbon emissions to 1990 levels by introducing a version of a cap-and-trade carbon tax which would hit power plants, refineries and cement manufacturers hard.
What is Proposition 23?
Supporters call it “The California Jobs Initiative,” and point to the high cost and potential job losses of implementing AB 32; but Proposition 23’s main impact would be to suspend (and effectively repeal) the provisions of AB 32. In turn, AB 32 supporters have launched a Stop Dirty Energy Prop Campaign to thwart the proposition. As of today, Proposition 23 is way ahead in the social media popularity index with over 4,500 Facebook “likes” for Prop 23 compared to just under 3,000 for its opponents.
And here’s how Guardino describes it:
“A veiled attempt to dismantle California’s environmental achievements.”
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Who is behind it?
Two Texas-based oil companies, Valero Energy Corporation and Tesoro Corporation, provided the initial funding to launch the campaign. Valero donated over $4 Million to the cause.
Guardino’s argument
“This is an economic engine not a caboose and we’re not going to let folks ruin the engine that continues to fuel the renewable energy, clean green economy. It’s not only good for our environment – and it’s critical – it’s also good for our economy and jobs; and we’ve proved that through innovation of products, processes and what we do with our people every day in Silicon Valley.”
“What’s wonderful about Silicon Valley is that it’s never been an ‘either or’ – it’s never been about the environment or the economy,” says Carl Guardino. “We can have our cake and eat it too.”
Former U.S. Secretary of State, George Shultzdelivered an eloquent summary of the facts surrounding AB 32(California’s answer to global warming) at the Silicon Valley Energy Summit at Stanford University on June 25. Shultz, a Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Instituteand Advisory Council Chair at the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, was billed as a Moderator/ Provocateur at the event, and despite his 89 years, he rose to the challenge and then some. In concluding remarks, he said it would be “an unmitigated disaster” if the measure to suspend AB 32 passes in the November election.
He was moderating a panel which included Lawrence Goulder, Director of environmental and Energy Policy at Stanford; Kevin Kennedy, Assistant Executive Office, Office of Climate Change, California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Peter Miller, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council. Check back for more details on each soon.
“The emission of carbon imposes a cost on society…you have to recognize that cost…” George Shultz
“If we’re going to level the playing field…we want a system that’s number one: effective… and number two: creates as little drag as possible or even gives a slight lift to the economy.” George Shultz
This week, we take a look at the Fresh Dialogues archives. Last April, I met with the enchanting Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Maureen Dowd. We had an animated conversation during a green-themed morning in downtown San Jose. Over cups of delicious mint tea, we discussed Maureen’s Irish heritageand how that inspires her fiery prose. We also discussed her belief in America’s green future.
In this excerpt, we discuss fellow New York Times Columnist, Tom Friedman (whom she describes as “her office husband”) and his new book, Hot, Flat & Crowded.
“I try to get advice from Tom Friedman who is Mr. Solar around our office. He’s done a new book which is very involved with energy and his whole house is solar designed… I ask him and he’s trying to coach me in how to be more environmentally correct.”
“This was the first campaign I’ve ever covered where I’d go and watch Hillary and Obama in the primary and they were both competing to come up with a plan for green jobs and for me it’s very exciting because for the eight years that Bush and Cheney were in it felt like we were going backwards in every way. You know we weren’t coming into the 21st Century and we were kinda like the Flintstones – we were just not moving forward. So I love all that.”
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To read the TRANSCRIPT of the full interview click here
To see many other exclusive videos at the FRESH DIALOGUES CHANNEL click here
For a full archive of interviews with Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman, Martin Sheen and many other celebrities click here
I caught up with Twitter officianado, Adam Jacksonat SDForum’s Teens Plugged in Conference last year. Since then, he’s founded TweetForMyBiz, a social media consultancy, based in San Francisco.
Moderator at this year’s conference, Mike Cassidy wrote an excellent column in the San Jose Mercury News about how teens embrace fearlessness in Silicon Valley. He writes:
“Tech CEOs have done plenty of hand-wringing about our schools’ declining ability to turn out the thinkers we need to keep innovation robust…The young entrepreneurs at the SDForum conference don’t make those worries go away, but they are a reason to hold onto hope. They are a generation that embraces the optimism, fearlessness and drive that have built Silicon Valley.”
Adam Jackson, who uprooted from Florida to San Francisco to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams as a young teen, is a great example of this fearlessness.
In this interview from the Fresh Dialogues archives, Adam talks about how to become a green influencer.
“If you have an idea to be more green, help the earth, then go for it, and try it out. See what happens and talk about it. That’s how you become an influencer, that’s how you become an expert. It’s not by re-quoting other people’s things. Or by trying to figure it out, maybe dabbling in it. You just have to jump head first.”
