“No More Solyndras” Act Passes the US House of Representatives
Here’s the main reason I couldn’t get within a million miles of an elected position in the US: I wouldn’t vote for the political grandstanding represented by legislation like the “No More Solyndras” Act. I wouldn’t be a part of obscuring from the American people that energy sector loan guarantees from the federal government have resulted in a huge number of successes, many thousands of jobs, and the development of technology that will have a real and permanent positive effect on the world’s energy picture.
Americans cheer on this type of nonsense, and that doesn’t speak too highly of us. We don’t seem to have our wits wrapped around a few basics, one of which is that the US is clearly and rapidly falling behind in the arena of innovation generally and in energy particularly. In 2009, for the first time ever, the US Patent Office granted a majority of its overall patents to foreign nations/companies. And nowhere is America losing faster and more obviously than energy. This bill, if passed, will seal our fate, relegating us to the world’s scrapheap in terms of technology leadership.
Another tragic failure of Americans is our inability to “follow the money.” As shown here, oil and coal companies represented three of bill co-sponsor Fred Upton’s top five campaign contributors. If you can think of something more shameful than this blatant conflict of interest, I hope you’ll write in and tell me what it is.
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A friend just sent me a note on this compact, consumer-oriented 
Here’s part of an invitation to one of the most important 
At a party yesterday, I ran into a top-flight businessman who sells advanced sonar systems to the world’s navies. I happen to know that he spends a huge amount of time in India, and I wanted to ask him about tips to avoid getting sick – a plight that befalls a great number of Americans travelling there. 
I just came back from an annual chili cook-off at a home of a dear friend. My recipe, which my kids and their friends adore, came in second place in the popular vote two years ago, but hasn’t been able to place since. Next year, I have a totally different approach that I’m looking forward to trying. More on this later, as if you could possibly care. 🙂 In any case, great people, fantastic food, and a ton of interesting ideas thrown around all afternoon and evening.
I always enjoy the opportunity to talk with college students about their aspirations and their observations from the perspective of their young lives. Last night I stayed at the home of one of my best friends from my boyhood, which gave me the chance to speak with his highly accomplished elder daughter, who just entered UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) as a freshman. In the course of the talk, she mentioned that all incoming students receive a heavy indoctrination that their school’s cross-town rival, USC (University of Southern California), is “the enemy”; all freshmen take a pledge that they will forever regard USC and its people as such. I suggested that this must be a kind of joke that no one takes seriously, but she assured me that the entire ritual is completely serious.
