Whether or not you agree with the outcome of last Tuesday’s presidential election, there’s one pledge that President-elect Barack Obama made that will benefit all of us, as citizens and investors–his energy plan. For too long, we’ve had administration after administration that failed to recognize the energy problems we are facing now and will face in the future. Finally, we have a leader who is promising to reduce greenhouse gases, get the U.S. off its dependence on foreign oil and create Green jobs.
This isn’t about being a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent, it’s about the realization that our oil supply isn’t going to last forever (or, if it is, it’s going to be more and more expensive to get) and we need to do something about it. We remind you often that not taking action in your stock portfolio is a sure way to lose money, becoming paralyzed by a lack of a plan doesn’t work in investing; the same goes with a national energy policy.
Before being elected, Obama laid out a comprehensive energy plan, and according to his campaign Web site, he plans to:
- Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion throughout the next 10 years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
- Within 10 years, save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
- Put one million plug-in hybrid cars–cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon–on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
- Ensure 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25% by 2025.
- Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
Obama’s plan is ambitious but necessary, and if passed by Congress (admittedly a big if) it will help propel the Green sector forward. Strides have already been made in the alternative energy field and many young companies are poised to make more, especially as more funding becomes available.
Obama’s pledge to create new Green jobs will not only stimulate our hurting economy, but will fuel the fire in the Green sector. Obama wants to create more Green jobs by injecting money into the private sector to allow companies to use all available resources to improve existing Green technologies and invent new ones.
As more Green jobs are created, more advances in alternative energy technologies will become available. This will allow greater numbers of people (directly or indirectly) to use wind power and solar power to heat their homes and get their electricity and more people will start driving hybrid cars.
Cabot subscribers have already enjoyed great investment success with some of the Green sector’s leading stocks. Cabot Market Letter subscribers rode First Solar (FSLR), the market-leading thin-film solar technology company, from 70 when first recommended to a high of 300 in the course of a year. Thanks to Cabot’s time-tested method of technical and fundamental analysis, we took some profits along the way before finally recommending selling the position when shares still traded above 220–before the stock’s plunge to 95 last month.
And as editor Brendan Coffey reminded us last month, “Cabot Green Investor readers also profited from Green stock recommendations even in this difficult year. We called for buying wind turbine and high-efficiency wire maker American Superconductor in May when shares traded at 26. The stock quickly rallied to above 40. Seeing that shares were technically overbought, we recommended selling half of our position at 41, just six weeks later. After more market fluctuations, we took the remainder of profits at 32 in early August. Shares are now at 13. American Superconductor is a business we believe has long term potential in its developing relationship with major Chinese firms, and we continue to watch it. It’s one of the 10 Green companies we are keeping readers abreast of right now for when the market has finally formed its bottom and the time to buy is right.”
But we feel that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Many young Green companies are poised to break out once the market turns positive and more are sure to follow should Obama’s energy plan be put into action.