How Can Obama Pay for Healthcare Reform? How about Linking it to a ‘Manhattan Project for Energy Efficiency’?
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
It’s clear that the White House hasn’t closed the deal with the American public on how it’s going to be able to pay for healthcare reform without significantly raising people’s taxes and/or the national debt.
Here’s one out-of-the-box idea: link healthcare and energy.
Specifically, show how the spectacular financial benefits of energy efficiency – both the direct benefit of money saved and the indirect benefit of healthier Americans through cleaner air as the need lessens for fossil-fuel power plants — might logically be applied to healthcare reform, thereby reducing or, just maybe, eliminating the need to raise people’s taxes or the national debt.
The White House is already moving to improve the nation’s energy efficiency, but not nearly fast enough. What’s needed is a “Manhattan Project for Energy Efficiency.” Obama should start by calling the Air Force, which according to Stars & Stripes has a plan for reducing energy use by 20% over the next 5-6 years. For every dollar the Air Force expects to spend, it anticipates a short-term return (2015) of $1.50 and a long-term return (2020) of $2. That’s a 50% to 100% return on every taxpayer dollar spent – simple-to-understand math that could get the American public excited.
The next calls Obama should make are to his energy secretary and to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), which just reported that strong new standards for 26 common household and business products could save U.S. consumers and businesses $123 billion by 2030. “Time’s a wasting!” Obama should shout into the phone.
There are added advantages to linking energy and healthcare through a Manhattan Project for Energy Efficiency. One is that it might create a lot of manufacturing jobs as suppliers hustled to increase output of insulation, efficient lighting and many other goods. Another is that it might create a lot of construction jobs as architects and builders were handed the perfect marketing pitch for convincing commercial real estate and home owners to retrofit their buildings.
Another advantage of linking energy and healthcare would be that Obama wouldn’t feel compelled to try and rush through an extremely expensive and controversial cap-and-trade bill immediately after trying to rush through an even more expensive and more controversial healthcare bill. Frankly, I don’t understand why America needs to create a huge new financial market to “cap” carbon until we first know how exactly how much we can reduce our carbon emissions through plain old energy efficiency. ACEEE estimates new efficiency standards on those 26 common appliances would by themselves reduce America’s carbon output 2.6% in the year 2030.
One possible way all this might work might be for Uncle Sam to give every private and commercial real estate owner a tax writeoff covering 100% of the cost of making efficiency improvements. Then Uncle Sam could collect the multi-year 150% to 200% return on his investment. Key, of course, would be an ironclad promise from Congress not to divert the funds into any of its pet projects. (Having a healthier nation would be free.)
The takeaway here for investors is that, whether the White House wakes up to the best deal going, sooner or later the extraordinary financial, environmental and, yes, healthcare benefits of energy efficiency are going to take center stage in the political debate over how to revitalize America. (Are you listening, Republicans?)
To get the most bang for the buck, this Manhattan Project should include putting a “smart” meter on every home and office building, which would be great for a company like Itron Inc. (Symbol ITRI).
Investors should also think seriously about such energy efficiency powerhouses as Johnson Controls (Symbol JCI), Honeywell (HON), General Electric (GE), Philips (PHG) and Owens Corning (OC).
For investors ready to take on greater risk, it might be time well spent looking at lighting manufacturer Cree Inc. (CREE), as well as retrofitting expert Lime Energy (LIME), and two “demand response” firms, EnerNOC (ENOC) and Comverge (COMV).
Final thought: Obama should announce the “Manhattan Project for Energy Efficiency” in front of the iconic Empire State Building in New York City, which just happens to be undergoing top-to-bottom energy efficiency improvements.
