Can You Spare a Buck?

How much would you pay to see America free from the economic drag of purchasing foreign oil? How much is it worth to be free of OPEC, the Middle East, and all the political turmoil that goes along? Can you spare a buck to save the planet from carbon emissions?

I would.

In fact I would give a hundred dollars to the first guy who steps up with a real plan and the guts to get it done. But I don’t have to. I can invest the money, instead.

On next year’s individual tax forms, why not have a check-off enabling every American to invest from 1 to 100 dollars in our new Forward America program? If only half of the 140 million individual filers invest, and if they only invest an average of 50 dollars, that is 3.5 billion dollars raised to finance a new energy program. Allow up to 100 dollars for every American-held Social Security number, and that number might be doubled. Here is an opportunity for average Americans to make an investment that could be worth millions of dollars over time, while helping ensure our nation’s survival for the next century (and longer).

More money could be raised later, with one-day sales transacted through the Post Offices across the country. All sales will be non-transferable and to individuals only – ensuring that no individual can amass more shares than another over the life of the project. Every American would have an equal opportunity to buy in.

So, with the help of government insured small business loans with a favorable rate given to Forward America related contracts, and an open and competitive system for taking bids, we could move forward quickly. Plants in Ohio that produce solar cells will be asked to expand and hire to ensure the necessary supply. Steel mills will need to produce more steel for wind turbines and the structures that support them. Closed automobile plants could be re-fitted (and re-staffed) to produce the turbines and transmission towers.

Construction contractors would be very busy, indeed – necessitating more skilled and unskilled laborers – literally millions of jobs would be created. In recognition of the peculiar economic impact to certain regions, as the fossil fuel industries begin to recede, efforts can be made to locate plants in those areas – in Texas, Louisiana, Alaska, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
I would give a hundred dollars for that.

But, how much will my hundred dollars be worth?

Well, the project could be developed in working stages that could be privatized when each is completed. As each stage is sold to private investors, I could either take a proportional share in the new utility, or I can cash-out for my share of the selling price. Each tax year could be used to finance a stage of the project, so that, by the end of ten years, we can get this done and allow every American to make an investment that could pay to send more children to college, buy more houses, groceries, clothing, etc.

The Forward America plan would include research to develop hydrogen-cell vehicles, with technology-sharing agreements between all American automakers and the goal of eliminating sales of all automobiles using carbon-based fuel by 2020 (and incremental goals along the way).

The automobile industry would realize a windfall as drivers rush to get rid of their old cars – more jobs, more taxpayers, and more consumers.

The air would be noticeably cleaner, very quickly, as we remove older cars, close down oil-burning generating stations, and begin to move away from coal. The global impact to the environment, as the largest industrial nation finally reduces its carbon footprint, would be dramatic.

A lot of the science and economics needs to be worked out by people a lot smarter than I am, but this is doable.

So, I ask you, can you spare a buck?