Panel Continues Green Tech Push
Jul 14th, 2008 | By Dawn R. Rivers | Category: TechnologyThere was yet another hearing on green technology and small businesses last week before the House Committee on Small Business. The spotlight during the hearing was on how green building technologies might help to resuscitate the ailing construction and manufacturing industries, while simultaneously helping constituents with rising energy costs. Witnesses were uniform in urging Congress to renew tax incentives to keep investment dollars flowing but lawmakers were also interested in what they could do, legislatively, to herd all the cats toward green. The answer seemed to be “not too much,” although job retraining programs were a promising possibility. Of course, the 800-pound gorilla in the room was the auto and oil industries. Can Congress continue to prop up 20th century industries and support emerging 21st century ones? Hard to say but probably not.
