In the world of technology innovation, 86 days is the blink of an eye. Most companies are looking months or years down the road when they invest in research and development. But when barrels of oil began pouring into the Gulf from BP’s Deepwater Horizon, the equation changed. Suddenly, research and development wasn’t optional, it was essential.
BP is the perfect model of what the United States should not do. The American citizen has paid the price for fossil fuel dependence for decades now and we can’t wait for another disaster to strike the US. Eighty-six days is almost nothing when you talk about technology innovation, but when you are trying to plug an oil spill, rescue workers from a collapsed coal mine, or end an OPEC embargo, 86 days is an eternity. We need to jump-start the clean energy R&D process now. We need to invest like we mean it.
