60 Minutes' 'Cleantech Crash' Segment Misses The Point, Critics Charge
The Huffington Post | By James Gerken
Posted: 01/06/2014 1:15 pm EST | Updated: 01/06/2014 1:40 pm EST
A recent "60 Minutes" segment is drawing sharp criticism for its pessimistic take on the green technology sector, which questioned whether clean tech has become a "dirty word."
"The Cleantech Crash," which aired Jan. 5 and can be watched above, argues that renewable energy and other types of clean technology are a dying industry. Critics have called the segment a "hit job," a "debacle," an "about face" and even "Dumb & Dumber Part 3."
One of the biggest issues with the segment, critics charge, is that it conflated the Silicon Valley clean tech venture capital scene with the Department of Energy's loan guarantee program for renewable energy.
Climate Progress' Joe Romm contends that CBS missed the point by focusing on the failure rate of private-sector startups and "[failed] to understand that the successes more than pay for the failures." It's worth noting that as many as three-quarters of all venture-backed businesses fail, the Wall Street Journal explained in 2012. Only three in 10 startups in the clean tech sector yield favorable returns for investors, according to a 2004 estimate.
The New York Times recently profiled the U.S. solar industry in a front-page story, noting that companies are benefitting from a "solar power craze that is sweeping Wall Street." Despite the recent U.S. oil and gas boom, the country "has more than doubled electricity generation from wind and solar" in the past four years, notes the San Jose Mercury News' Dana Hull.
(More here.)
Posted: 01/06/2014 1:15 pm EST | Updated: 01/06/2014 1:40 pm EST
A recent "60 Minutes" segment is drawing sharp criticism for its pessimistic take on the green technology sector, which questioned whether clean tech has become a "dirty word."
"The Cleantech Crash," which aired Jan. 5 and can be watched above, argues that renewable energy and other types of clean technology are a dying industry. Critics have called the segment a "hit job," a "debacle," an "about face" and even "Dumb & Dumber Part 3."
One of the biggest issues with the segment, critics charge, is that it conflated the Silicon Valley clean tech venture capital scene with the Department of Energy's loan guarantee program for renewable energy.
Climate Progress' Joe Romm contends that CBS missed the point by focusing on the failure rate of private-sector startups and "[failed] to understand that the successes more than pay for the failures." It's worth noting that as many as three-quarters of all venture-backed businesses fail, the Wall Street Journal explained in 2012. Only three in 10 startups in the clean tech sector yield favorable returns for investors, according to a 2004 estimate.
The New York Times recently profiled the U.S. solar industry in a front-page story, noting that companies are benefitting from a "solar power craze that is sweeping Wall Street." Despite the recent U.S. oil and gas boom, the country "has more than doubled electricity generation from wind and solar" in the past four years, notes the San Jose Mercury News' Dana Hull.
(More here.)
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