John Doerr: Corporate Green or Corporate Greed?
December 13th, 2007 by Brendan SteinhauserAs the left tries to push costly climate change legislation on taxpayers and consumers, few have paid too much attention to the companies and investors that would benefit from such “eco-friendly” legislation. Last week, the Hillary for President campaign bragged about their endorsement from John Doerr, whom the campaign describes this way,
John Doerr is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm. John and his KPCB partners have backed entrepreneurs in over 475 ventures. These ventures have generated more than 275,000 jobs and over $90 billion in annual revenue.
Seems straightforward enough. What kind of ventures are Mr. Doerr and his company supporting now? Why, “green” corporate welfare ventures that would redirect money from energy companies to their own. As USA Today reports,
Doerr and his firm, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, are placing big bets on an emerging sector he calls “green technology,” one he believes could become as lucrative as information technology and biotechnology.
Lucrative, indeed, especially since Democrats in Congress are pushing legislation that would take oil and gas companies’ profits and use them to subsidize this “green technology”, which would make companies like Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers a fortune. What’s even better is that Doerr admits that he will be lobbying for the policies that will enable him to make money on “greentech.”
Besides investing in greentech ventures, Doerr said he and Kleiner Perkins plan to “advocate for policies that reduce the climate crisis and increase energy innovation.”
As Doerr admits,
“This field of greentech could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century. There’s never been a better time than now to start or accelerate a greentech venture.”
Given the left’s efforts to rob taxpayers to Pay John Doerr, this is certainly the case. Where is the liberal outcry against corporate rent-seeking or special interests’ undue influence on Congress? Oh, yes, that only applies to “evil” companies that aren’t green enough. But, left-wing ventures that aim to make tons of money and give a healthy amount to Democrats, that is another matter.
