Energy

By Patrick "Kit" Bobko

Kit Bobko recognizes that the South Bay's wealth of bright entrepreneurs, talented engineers, and skilled labor make it perfect to emerge as the Silicon Valley of the burgeoning Green Technology industry.

These are exciting but complicated times for energy supply. We are making tremendous improvements in natural gas extraction and production, and the cost of renewable energy technologies continues to decline. At the same time, the ongoing tragedy in Japan is rightly giving pause to nuclear power plant development. The lesson is not that nuclear power is wrong; the lesson is that aging plants must be regularly reviewed and updated.

Current events also highlight the problems that exist because of our reliance on imported oil. Our economy is oil-based, for now, and we should continue to support our domestic oil industry while slowly weaning our country from imported oil.

We live in the hotbed of innovation in the automobile industry. No other area in the country can boast the resume of our automotive manufacturers and entrepreneurs. We must continue to support this industry to ensure our transportation continues to become safer and cleaner. By leading the world in this industry, we will not only provide better transportation but stimulate exports around the world.

So what should we do? We need to make it as easy as possible to invest in new, cleaner sources of energy. Such investment will not only provide more sources of sustainable energy, but will create much-needed jobs for the local economy. Just as the South Bay helped pioneer the aerospace industry, we must also lead the way in green technology and establish ourselves as the industry capital. Our friends in the Silicon Valley have done this in the high-tech sector, and we should strive to do the same here by marketing our existing population of qualified professionals + rich with engineers and developers + to attract the best innovators and the brightest entrepreneurs of this emerging industry to the South Bay.

Another great advantage that we have to offer the green technology sector is a talented class of workers familiar with technical and complex manufacturing. The South Bay is home to workers who have assembled Boeing C-17 military aircraft deployed all around the world to execute critical missions and who have manufactured satellites launched to orbit the Earth. These professionals carry unparalleled expertise and experience that can continue a tradition of skilled American manufacturing that other countries simply cannot compete with.

For us in the South Bay, we have the distinct ability to view Energy not only as a challenge, but as an opportunity. As a nation, we must confront issues of energy safety and independence. Yet, as a community, we are uniquely positioned to create and nurture a green technology sector that will support both our national well-being and also our own local interests of serving as the hub of an emerging industry.