Thursday, May 21, 2009

John Doerr as Presidential Advisor on Climate and Economics

In the post immediately below I commented on Mr. Doerr's statement:
"Putting a price on carbon is the most important thing we can do,"

Kleiner, Perkins has some $1 Billion invested in forty-odd companies that will benefit from the climate bill.
Here's the Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch blog:

The Daily Start-Up: Did You See Doerr’s Memo About This?

John Doerr’s stint as an economic advisor to the President is officially underway. President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board met yesterday for its first quarterly meeting, and the longtime partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers presented a memo pushing “key energy and climate policies.” In particular, Doerr and his fellow board members are recommending the U.S. endorse putting a cap on carbon emissions. “Mr. President, we urge you to support a market-based Cap and Trade system that is both economically sustainable and environmentally sound. We believe it can help propel our economy, enhance our energy security goals and help make America the worldwide leader in the next great global industry,” the memo said. Here’s a transcript of the meeting, in which the President lets Doerr kick things off….
Here's the advisory board:
  • Austan Goolsbee as staff director and chief economist (Obama administration);
  • William H. Donaldson, SEC Chair, 2003-05 (Obama supporter who has spoken in support of climate legislation);
  • Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO, TIAA-CREF
  • Robert Wolf, chairman and CEO, UBS (sells climate change-related financial products);
  • David F. Swensen, CIO, Yale University (Yale supports climate change legislation);
  • Mark T. Gallogly, founder and managing partner, Centerbridge Partners L.P. (early Obama supporter);
  • Penny Pritzker, chairwoman, Pritzker Realty Group (Obama campaign finance chairman);
  • Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO, GE (parent company of NBC News) (lobbying for climate legislation through USCAP);
  • John Doerr, partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (lobbying for climate legislation through Al Gore);
  • Jim Owens, chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc. (lobbying for climate change legislation through USCAP);
  • Monica C. Lozano, publisher & chief executive officer, La Opinion (her newspaper endorsed Obama);
  • Charles E. Phillips, Jr., president, Oracle (wants to use Oracle technology to ration electricity to consumers through a “smart grid”);
  • Anna Burger, chairwoman, Change to Win (union group that supports green jobs);
  • Richard L. Trumka, secretary-treasurer, AFL-CIO (the union has joined with greens to lobby for climate legislation);
  • Laura D’Andrea Tyson, dean, Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley (Obama supporter who has advocated climate change legislation);
  • Martin Feldstein, professor of Economics, Harvard (opposes cap-and-trade)
That's from the Green Hell blog. I wouldn't be as opinionated in my descriptions but the point comes through, you get a feel for what the advice might be. Here's CNBC:

Airtime: Wed. May 20 2009 | 8:42 AM ET

Talking about the economic task force, with Robert Wolf UBS Americas; John Doerr, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; and CNBC's Becky Quick.