Earth Equity News

What Kind of Return Might a $700 Billion Green Investment Deliver? Posted by Carl Pope, Sierra Club Blog, September 22, 2008. “Much of the bad paper that is dragging down the financial sector is bad because homeowners and credit card debtors got stuck with very expensive loans. And no one believes that investors will get more than about fifty cents on the dollar. What would happen if we gave $700 billion to average people and helped them renegotiate their debt down by 50%? Could that have an equal benefit on financial markets while keeping more people in their homes?... If we massively retrofitted homes and offices to reduce energy waste and lower utility bills, and aggressively improved vehicle fuel efficiency, might the return on those investments be higher than what Secretary Paulson is talking about? The amount being talked about -- $700 billion -- is roughly equal to this year's bill for imported oil. So if we really took ending our addiction to oil seriously, we could repay the Treasury for the bailout -- and it's hard to see any other pot of money lying around big enough. So presumably we do need to do something, but we ought to ask a lot of tough questions. Because the administration that is asking for a trillion dollar blank check, when all is said and done, is the same one that completed the process of taking us back to 1928.”