America's Green Innovation Problem

BusinessWeek (Rob Atkinson and Devon Swezey) - As clean energy technology has globalized, innovation has followed. Government officials need to pay attention. Even as the U.S. continues to slip further behind economic rivals in the production and deployment of clean energy technologies, many commentators still cling to the comforting belief that, as New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has written, America will "specialize in research and innovation."

Yet it is clear that we are moving into an era in which the supposed choice between locating for low-cost manufacturing and locating for innovation is revealed as a false one. As clean energy technology has globalized, innovation has followed manufacturing and markets, something that many in the U.S. have yet to appreciate fully. The globalization of innovation has led many multinationals to become truly global in their R&D, manufacturing, and marketing as they increasingly collaborate with foreign companies and governments...

As such, the federal government must start the important work of facilitating the development of its own clusters of clean energy innovation in the U.S. To succeed, the U.S. must do two key things. First, it should prioritize major public investments in clean energy innovation, advanced manufacturing, and market creation, something it has been unwilling to do in any of the climate and energy bills currently before Congress. Second, it needs to significantly step up efforts to challenge Chinese mercantilism, whether in green industries or any high value-added industry critical to the country's future.