Green Tech

The Senate on Wednesday reached an agreement on a massive government stimulus bill that includes tens of billions of dollars for energy through direct government investments and tax incentives.

The Senate pared down the package to $790 billion from the House's $820 billion version, but the majority of energy-related infrastructure spending and incentives remain in the compromise bill. Final votes on the bill, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, in both houses could happen on Friday.

Overall, there is $50 billion for energy programs, much of it focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy, and $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and efficiency, according to a conference report released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office (click for PDF) and an Associated Press analysis. Provisions include:

• $5 billion to weatherize homes of up to 1 million low-income people.

• $11 billion toward smart-grid technologies to run the power grid more efficiently.

• $13.9 billion in loans to subsidize renewable-energy projects and transmission.

• $6.3 billion in state energy-efficient and clean-energy grants.

• $4.5 billion to make federal buildings more energy efficient.

There is $2 billion for advanced battery manufacturing and over $2 billion for carbon capture and storage demonstration projects, according to a Wall Street Journal comparison of the House and Senate versions.

The bill has $400 million in spending to create the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) "to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency in collaboration with industry," according to Pelosi's office.

In transportation, there is $8.4 billion for mass transit and $8 billion for construction of high-speed railways.

Recession-ready
In a win for the renewable-energy industry, the bill gives renewable-energy project developers an alternative method to take advantage of government incentives.

Many renewable-energy projects have been stalled, or scrapped, because many investors don't have enough income to take advantage of the existing 30 percent federal tax credit. The bill now allows renewable-energy project developers to effectively get the same credit by applying for a loan from the Department of Energy for 30 percent of the project, explained Rhone Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).

The bill extends the tax credit for wind power investments three years through 2012 and for electricity derived from biomass, geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to-energy, and ocean power facilities through 2013.

The restructured renewable energy incentives and loan guarantees are designed to bring back financial liquidity to the renewable energy business, which has been hard hit by the credit crisis.

"We have met with company after company (in solar and wind) that have had to shelve projects because they couldn't get access to capital markets," Carol Browner, the White House energy and climate director, told the AP earlier this week. "In these small companies, access to capital is going to make a big difference."

There are also tax credits available for investment in "advanced energy facilities" and billions of dollars available for installation of solar on government buildings, military bases, and schools, according to the SEIA.

Solar hot water
For consumers, there are more incentives for purchasing renewable energy systems and up to a $7,500 tax rebate for plug-in electric vehicles.

To retrofit existing homes to be more efficient, the bill extends and expands tax credits for purchase "such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation," according to the committee report. The House and Senate versions extended these credits to 2010 and increased the level to 30 percent with a cap of $1,500 on combined purchases, according to Environment and Energy Daily (subscription required).

Solar hot-water systems will be more attractive because the $2,000 cap on the 30 percent tax credit is lifted, according to SEIA's Resch. The Senate version of the bill also removed the $4,000 tax credit cap on small wind investments.

"We think it's a pretty big boost of adrenaline for the industry," SEIA's Resch said. "It will take a little longer for the manufacturing incentives to take hold, but we'll see demand in the next couple of weeks pick up and (solar) installers start to put up help wanted signs."

The $30 billion in direct spending on smart grid, advanced batteries, and energy efficiency will create 500,000 jobs, said Pelosi's office.

Environmental groups urged passage of the bill. "Tens of billions of dollars for clean energy, energy efficiency, public transportation, scientific research and a smart energy grid remain. Tens of billions set to be wasted on coal and other outdated energy sources were removed," said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, in a statement.

Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder said that provisions to authorize $50 billion in loan guarantees for the nuclear industry were removed.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu plans to dispense tens of billions of dollars in loans in the next year in an effort to stimulate the economy and shortcut bureaucracy at the Department of Energy.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Chu said that the goal is to spend about half of the roughly $37 billion set aside for clean-energy projects in the coming year.

The clean-energy provisions are a central piece of the government stimulus package, which was passed by the House earlier this week. The Senate late Friday reached an agreement on the spending bill so that it could be voted on early next week.

Steven Chu at his former lab at Stanford University.

(Credit: Stanford University)

Existing energy legislation from 2005 set aside loans and grants for energy and auto companies but no money has been dispensed because of a slow approval process, Chu said.

"This is the pace we expect, not three years, but five months." We've got to do this and we've got to do it in a way that has not been done at the Department of Energy," he said.

The amount of money available for clean-energy related projects is actually larger than the $25 billion annual budget of the Department of Energy whose mission is largely tied to protecting the U.S.'s nuclear arsenal.

An analysis by climate change business consulting firm ICT International, which was commissioned by Greenpeace, found that early versions of the stimulus bill had set aside over $50 billion for clean-energy measure, such as smart grid technologies and auto battery research. The American Association for the Advancement of Science put the number at about $37 billion, according to the Journal.

"The synopsis of the loans I've seen in innovative green energy -- they're in the hundred-million dollar range. They're in big hunks of money," Chu said.

The provisions are a mix of direct spending or loan guarantees, which have emerged as a vital source of capital for new energy technologies companies because of the credit crisis.

A number of clean-tech companies are seeking loans from the DOE in order to build manufacturing facilities, which are difficult to get financed as banks have become more conservative or unwilling to lend. Well known clean-tech companies, including Tesla Motors and battery company A123 Systems, have applied for existing loans but haven't received money.

Chu said that less technology-oriented Department of Energy projects could be quickly dispensed through states, including roughly $6 billion set aside to weatherize homes and municipal buildings to be more energy efficient.

"The secretary is committed to streamlining the process and eliminating unnecessary paperwork so that we can make these important investments that create jobs as quickly as possible," Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow told Reuters.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times earlier this week, Chu spoke about the potentially severe economic and environmental impact from climate change, particularly in California.

"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he told the newspaper. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California." And, he added, "I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going."

The massive government economic stimulus plan now in Congress would reduce pollution that causes global warming and lower energy bills for many Americans, according to an analysis published on Thursday by environmental watchdog Greenpeace.

The primary purpose of the stimulus package--said to be in the range of $825 billion to $900 billion in government spending and tax cuts--is to jump-start the ailing U.S. economy.

Greenpeace commissioned climate change consulting firm ICF International to analyze the environmental benefits from the energy and transportation portions of the bill. Overall, the report concludes that, from an environmental perspective, "it's money well spent," Greenpeace executives said.

If implemented, the measures would cut 61 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from electricity, the equivalent of eliminating power use of 7.9 million homes or taking 13 million cars off the road.

"It's a real sign that we're starting to move the world beyond the era of fossil fuels and we're setting an example for others," Greenpeace research director Kert Davies said during a conference call with reporters.

ICT said analysts were able to quantify only about half of the environmental benefits from the stimulus plan, which means that emissions reductions could be more than projected.

Investments in energy efficiency offer the most economic ways to reduce carbon emissions and save money annually.

In the package is a provision to give $6.9 billion in state and local aid to retrofit municipal buildings to be more energy efficient, which would save $3 billion annually. Similarly, a proposed $2.5 billion to weatherize people's homes would save $1.25 billion a year in utility bills and cut 87.6 million metric tons of carbon of the lifetime of the program.

The report did not focus on the economic impact of the stimulus package, which is the source of debate among policy makers who question whether the spending will have an immediate impact on job creation in the U.S.

But Davies said that it's clear that the legislation was drafted with an eye toward short-term benefits and longer-term economic development. "This is smart money being put forward to build a clean-energy economy," he said.

Studies by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the U.K.'s Stern Review have calculated that the effects of climate change hurt the economy, such as the economic fall-out from floods and droughts.

The economic stimulus package has passed the House and is now being debated in the Senate, where it is in danger of being watered down, said Steven Biel, Greenpeace's global warming campaign director.

He recommended that the tens of billions of dollars set aside for energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions in the package not be cut. Also, the renewable energy policies, which are based on tax credits, should be altered so that more clean-energy developers can take advantage of it.

Biel said that tens in billions in loan guarantees for nuclear energy and coal-to-liquids would not have a short-term stimulative effect. Also, the ICT analysis found that spending on mass transit infrastructure would have a far lower carbon impact than new construction or even improving existing roads and bridges.

In signing two executive orders on Monday, President Barack Obama made the first moves in a bold multi-pronged strategy to reshape energy policy and spur technology innovation.

At a press conference, the president ordered the Department of Transportation to establish rules by 2011 to raise fuel efficiency to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

He also ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately review the denial of a waiver that would allow California and other states to set limits on tailpipe emissions.

In Washington, D.C., the moves signal a sharp change in direction from the Bush administration which was the first to block a waiver request from California and did not implement existing legislation that mandated a 40 percent increase in car and light truck fuel economy.

Technology entrepreneurs and investors got the signal, too. If firmer regulations around fuel efficiency take hold, the business for energy-efficient technologies in transportation technology starts to look more attractive.

"Right now, the investment community is thinking that by 2015, if we're lucky, electric vehicles may be one percent of the marketplace--that's not very many," said Bilal Zuberi, an investor at venture-capital firm General Catalyst Partners. "But if that becomes larger and becomes nearer, then that's pretty interesting."

If California adopts stricter greenhouse gas emissions levels, at least 13 other states and the District of Columbia are expected to adopt those mandates. That effectively creates a larger market for fuel-efficient technologies like electric vehicles, efficient transmissions, or lighter vehicle materials.

Zuberi said technology investors typically have a seven- or eight-year window for making a financial return. Knowing that there is demand for fuel-efficient technologies allows investors to invest with more confidence and a better-understood timescale.

The auto technology companies themselves can also develop and validate products faster, he added. Established car companies could also seek to acquire auto start-ups.

Not so fast
Through its industry association, automakers quickly voiced their opposition to granting California its waiver, underscoring the difficulty of establishing tougher environmental standards in an ailing industry.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers issued a statement on Monday calling for a set of national regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions. It noted that, at the moment, there are effectively three "voices" influencing fuel economy and carbon dioxide emission regulations: the EPA, California, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

It also urged the administration to have the higher fuel efficiency standards to go into effect for model year 2011 cars "because automakers are working on their product plans now and need the certainty of final standards," according to the statement.

General Catalysts' Zuberi noted that large automakers typically make less money on small, fuel-efficient cars. Changing the mix of their sales to include more fuel-efficient vehicles will force them to innovate on technology or manufacturing, he argued.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, praised the move.

"The cleaner cars he will help put on the road will show us the way to reduce our dangerous dependence on oil and will push automakers to make the cars that the world will want and need in the 21st Century," wrote Dave Hawkins, head of the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Other shoes to drop
During Obama's press conference--his first official event in the East Room of the White House--he indicated that the proposed changes in transportation policy are part of broader set of measures his administration is rapidly lining up on energy and environment.

A proposed $825 billion stimulus package includes billions of dollars in tax incentives and direct government spending on clean-energy programs.

In addition to repeating the administration's pledge to doubling the amount of renewable energy in the country in three years, Obama on Monday said that the stimulus plan calls for laying 3,000 miles of new transmission lines--considered crucial for moving wind and solar power to different corners of the country.

The plan also has billions for dedicated to weatherizing two million homes and saving $2 billion a year by making 75 percent of federal buildings more energy efficient.

"Embedded in America's soil, wind, and sun, we have the capacity to change," Obama said. "It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence of foreign oil while creating a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs."

In transportation, plug-in electric or all-electric vehicles do promise to bring a jump in fuel efficiency. All major automakers are preparing some form of electric sedans to be first released in the next two years.

But the policies outlined by Obama on Monday only address a portion of the policies needed to get electric car on the roads en masse, said Brian Wynne, the president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association.

Auto suppliers are not yet prepared to meet a huge spike in demand for electric cars, in particularly the lithium-ion batteries planned for these vehicles.

"There's little doubt this will impact the demand for greener vehicles across the board," said Wynne. "But trying to transition to deployment and a new manufacturing infrastructure for advanced electric vehicles as the auto industry is shedding capacity is a big challenge."

WASHINGTON--Energy Secretary nominee Steven Chu was greeted with warm approval from a congressional committee during his confirmation hearing Tuesday, at which he acknowledged the need to pursue nuclear and clean-coal energy but promoted energy efficiency as the best means of addressing the nation's energy challenges in the face of a dour economy.

"I feel very strongly what the American family does not want is to pay an increasing fraction of their budget on energy costs," Chu said before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "That we do the best we can on energy efficiency--that, in my mind, remains the lowest hanging fruit."

Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu, Obama's pick to be the next energy secretary, appeared before a congressional committee Tuesday.

(Credit: Stanford University)

Working toward producing more efficient cars and tightly sealed homes will bring down energy consumption and costs, he said.

Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said Chu would be heading up the Energy Department at a "pivotal time in the department's history," noting that tens of billions of dollars in the upcoming stimulus package are likely to be devoted to energy programs.

He said that he would like the committee to vote on Chu's nomination later this week so the Nobel Prize-winning physicist could be confirmed as Energy Secretary by the entire senate on January 20, when President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

Chu would take responsibility of an increasingly important energy program at a time when funding will be sparse. Bingaman noted the lack of funding for a loan guarantee program set up by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Chu said that he would be able to manage the department efficiently. Since becoming director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2004, he has been primarily known as a scientist, he said, but "I spent three quarters of my time paying attention to the operation side of the house."

Part of the Energy Department's $25 billion budget should go toward accelerating the development of consumer-friendly batteries for electric hybrid cars, Chu said.

"These first electric hybrid cars don't have the energy capacity and the battery lifetime we need," he said. "Let's push hard towards more fuel-efficient personal vehicles."

While the senators present endorsed Chu's enthusiasm for developing new energy technologies, many emphasized the need to put funds toward readily available energy sources like nuclear power.

"Isn't it important we accelerate this proven source of clean energy?" Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Al.) asked with respect to nuclear power.

"I'm supportive of the fact that the nuclear industry should be part of the mix," Chu said.

He said federal loan guarantee programs should be used to jump-start the nuclear industry while the nation develops a long-term plan for safe disposal of waste and researches ways to recycle waste in an economically viable and safe manner.

"The recycling issue is something we don't need a solution for today, or even 10 years from today," Chu said. "It's like coal--one doesn't have a hard moratorium on that while we search for ways to capture carbon safely."

Chu said the United States, India, China, and Russia will not turn their backs to coal, so it is critical to find ways to use it as cleanly as possible, a sentiment many senators agreed with.

"All of us understand we need to use coal differently in the future," said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). "But I don't think anybody believes we're not going to use our most abundant resource."

Chu said the United States has an opportunity to develop clean-coal technologies for the rest of the world to use, and "if confirmed, I will work very hard to extensively develop these."

Shortly after President-elect Barack Obama set a goal of doubling the country's renewable energy in three years, the jockeying over the energy portions of his administration's stimulus plan began.

At a speech at George Mason University on Thursday, Obama repeated his intention to promote the development of clean-technologies such as solar and wind energy, and to upgrade the electricity distribution system to enable smart-grid technologies. Obama said:

To finally spark the creation of a clean-energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions (of dollars) on our energy bills.

In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced--jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain."

More details on how to fund energy-related programs trickled out after Obama's talk.

In response to a query from The Wall Street Journal, an Obama transition aide said doubling renewable-energy production in the United States is possible through a combination of loan guarantees and, ultimately, a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS).

There are a number of state-level RPS policies mandating that utilities get a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable technologies; the targets in California have set off a race to build up solar-power plants there. During the campaign, Obama had advocated a national RPS at 10 percent by 2012 and 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.

Renewable energy from wind, solar, and geothermal is about 24,000 megawatts, according to the aide, which represents about 1 percent of all power generation in the country.

"By providing significant loan guarantees and ultimately, later down the road, a national (renewable portfolio standard), we are confident we will get the wind industry back on track. In addition to the 20,000+ megawatts of wind, we are confident that with the same combination of support and renewable standards, the geothermal and solar industries can install 4,000MW of new power," the aide told the Journal.

After his talk, members of Obama's economic team met with members of Congress, who voiced their concerns with the plan.

"Energy is way underrepresented here in the package that has been discussed," said Sen. Kent Conrad, according to a report at Energy and Environment Daily (subscription required).

That sentiment was echoed by Sen. John Kerry: "I'm very confident that some adjustments are going to be made...We positively--absolutely in my judgment--need to spend more on energy, and I made that point and will continue to make that point."

The entire stimulus plan put forth is structured so that 40 percent of the money comes from direct tax cuts, 40 percent from direct investments in initiatives such as efficiency, and 20 percent directed at states, according to reports.

Overall, renewable-energy companies are optimistic on the potential for policy changes under Obama. In response to Thursday's speech, the American Council on Renewable Energy said it is issuing a call to action to its 600 members to issue plans on how to double renewable energy output in the next three years.

The auto sector is also angling to secure loan guarantees and incentives to establish electric-car manufacturing in the United States, according to a report earlier this week in the Detroit News.

Advocates of underground storage of carbon dioxide at coal-fired power plants are also hoping to restart investment in the Department of Energy-sponsored FutureGen project.

President-elect Barack Obama on Monday formally announced the top members of his energy and environment team and pledged to move aggressively on energy security and climate change.

As expected, Obama nominated Nobel Prize-winning scientist Steven Chu, now the head of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as secretary of energy at a press conference in Chicago.

Lisa P. Jackson, the head of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection, is Obama's choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Nancy Sutley, the deputy mayor for energy and environment for Los Angeles, was picked as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu is said to have been nominated as the next energy secretary.

(Credit: Stanford University)

And Obama named former EPA administrator Carol M. Browner to a new position--assistant to the president for energy and climate change--to coordinate energy and climate policies among different federal and state agencies.

The secretary of the interior, who will be the final member of the administration's energy and environment team, will be named later this week, Obama said.

Obama said the nominations reflect his goal to invest in energy technologies to both revitalize the economy and address climate change.

"One of the key points that I want to make at this press conference and I will repeat again and again during the course of my presidency is there is not a contradiction between economic growth and sound environmental practices," Obama said.

"I think that the future of innovation and technology is going to be what drives our economy into the future. And the energy economy is going to be part of what creates the millions of jobs we need," he said.

Obama added that his choice of Chu reflects his desire to have science as the basis of environmental and energy policy decisions. "We will make decisions based on facts, and we understand that the facts demand bold action," he said.

Chu said he intends to support research on sustainable energy technologies at the Department of Energy.

"We believe aggressive support of energy science, coupled with (commercial) incentives...can transform the entire landscape of energy supply," he said.

Challenges and reactions
In the week running up to Monday's announcement, Obama's reported choices were generally well received by clean technology business people and advocates.

However, Obama's energy and environmental team faces growing challenges in implementing broad changes.

The global economic crisis and falling oil prices have slowed green-tech activity, particularly for companies that require lots of capital to commercialize new technologies.

The European Union reached an agreement on carbon-emissions trading on Friday after intense lobbying from utilities and heavy-manufacturing industries. The greenhouse gas reduction targets remain in place, but heavy polluters have more leeway in how they meet those targets, according to reports.

As this Associated Press article points out, scientists say that the task of curbing greenhouse gas levels is more challenging today than it would have been several years ago.

On the political side, some observers doubt that investments in energy efficiency and clean technologies can create the millions of jobs Obama intends to create.

Finally, some have noted that Chu, although a renowned scientist, could run into difficulties navigating the politics of Washington.

Energy guru and efficiency advocate Amory Lovins, the founder and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, urged Chu to separate nuclear weapons responsibilities from the DOE and to create an assistant secretary devoted to energy efficiency.

"Be bold," Lovins said in a statement. "This is our last and best chance to get energy right. We know how; we just need to go do it."

President-elect Barack Obama's reported choices for the top energy and environment officials set the stage for a dramatic change in policy on energy and climate change.

Citing Democratic sources, news outlets on Wednesday reported that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu will be named energy secretary.

Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu is said to have been nominated as the next energy secretary.

(Credit: Stanford University)

Carol M. Browner, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, is expected to get a position overseeing energy, environmental, and climate policies. And Lisa P. Jackson, who is chief of staff for New Jersey's governor, is said to be the leading candidate for the head of the EPA.

These positions will be at the center of Obama administration's energy and environment policy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions growth and have energy efficiency play an important role in an expected economic stimulus package.

The expected choices of Chu, Browner, and Jackson suggest that Obama intends to move aggressively on these goals.

"On policy, it's a dramatic contrast based on what I know about the policy direction that all these folks will be bringing to these positions," Daniel Lashof, director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told The Washington Post.

The top EPA post is considered a pivotal position for climate change issues as the agency could begin to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide.

Chu now heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has been an advocate for government-sponsored spending on science and technology research to improve the nation's economic performance.

In the past few years, he's becoming increasingly involved in energy and climate change issues. In an interview with The Washington Post last year, he said, "I was following it just as a citizen and getting increasingly alarmed. Many of our best basic scientists [now] realize that this is getting down to a crisis situation."

He's a strong advocate of investing in energy efficiency and energy technologies to tackle climate change, noted the Wonk Room earlier this week.

In the video below, Chu speaks at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas this past summer about the dangers of climate change, including wars over natural resources like water.

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said that building energy efficiency is central to his administration's economic recovery plan and outlined the conditions he intends to impose on ailing U.S. automakers.

In his weekly radio address, which is broadcast on YouTube, Obama laid out the planks a government-led spending program meant to revitalize the U.S. economy and create jobs.

"First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs," he said in his radio address.

He also pledged to make federal money available to rebuild roads, upgrade schools to be energy efficient, and expand broadband access to schoolchildren.

The energy plan is expected to include a commitment to upgrade the electricity distribution infrastructure. By equipping the grid with communications network--the essence of smart grid technology--utilities can run the power grid more efficiently and consumers can get information to help lower energy usage.

An aide told the The New York Times that the green collar portion of the stimulus plan could be $100 billion over two years.

Following his radio address, Obama taped an interview which aired on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press.

In response to questions about the plight of U.S. automakers, Obama said that he does not want to allow the financially strapped corporations to collapse because they are the backbone of the manufacturing industry.

However, he said that any federal assistance will come at the price of "significant adjustments from all their stakeholders." He said his advisers are devising ways to keep automakers "feet to the fire," as a bankruptcy court does, to reflect the urgency of change.

"You have seen some progress made incrementally in many of these companies...They are making some investments in the kind of green technologies and new batteries that will let them make plug-in hybrids," Obama said. "What we haven't seen is the sense of urgency and willingness to make tough decisions."