Remarks at the First Annual Clean Energy Venture Summit

Chief Operating Officer Paul Dickerson's remarks at the First Annual Clean Energy Venture Summit in Austin, Texas

May 15, 2007

Thank you.

Friends, it is great to be back in Texas!

Joel, thank you for bringing us together. Secretary Bodman enjoyed meeting with you last week in DC—thank you for your leadership.

Congratulations Howard [Berke] on Konarka's recent multi-million dollar grant from the Department of Energy—your solar innovations certainly have our attention.

Jerry [Patterson], we have appreciated your office's support for our mission. Thank you for your leadership.

This kind of action and leadership is what our nation needs to turn today's energy innovations into tomorrow's products.

Let me begin by giving you a sense of the momentum growing in Washington around efficiency and renewables.

There is no single issue with broader support in this country than our need for energy solutions—and President Bush has placed this issue at the top of his agenda.

On many occasions, he has said that we are addicted to oil—and that this addiction threatens our environment, economy, and national security.

Just this week, the President ramped up his challenges on efficiency with a new Executive Order. By the time his term ends, he wants federal agencies to have strict regulations on auto emissions in place.

Solar and wind—we're integrating them into the grid; biofuels—we're advancing research in ethanol, biodiesel and others; zero-energy homes—we're creating materials to make them a reality; batteries—we're leading the effort in developing the next generation.

But friends, you all know that these developments are of little use until they leave the lab and enter the market.

The government must also play the role of catalyst—removing impediments for business leaders, establishing predictable tax policy, and giving over our best ideas to YOU.

For that reason, it's great to be here with you—the business leaders and venture capitalists.

When I started at DOE, I immediately hired three venture capitalists and a lawyer, forming our first ever commercialization team.

I charged them with pushing technology from our nation's labs to entrepreneurs like you, so that YOU could help us identify licensing opportunities and find other technology to wrap into business plans.

To give CEOs and entrepreneurs a chance to peek behind the curtain of the federal government and spot for opportunity, I personally carved 8 meetings a week into my schedule for business leaders like you—discussing technology and finding opportunities to work together.

To drive down the cost of green technology, I want to help US companies sell more, creating greater economies of scale.

I came to the Department of Energy from the Department of Commerce, where I served as Chief of Staff for the Foreign Commercial Service, a federal agency with 1700 employees in 250 offices around the globe.

Their sole mission is to assist US companies in selling their goods and services around the world.

We have no sales force at the DOE, so I have asked the Commercial Service to become that sales force.

I just returned from India and China with the Commercial Service, where I hosted the federal government's first ever clean-tech trade mission.

We hosted 16 US companies, from small startups like an Arkansas clean coal company to large companies like Dupont and GE, and each returned with new opportunities in each country.

We are acting differently and helping US companies win.

We think this approach is the right one. By investing smarter and helping US businesses, we are recognizing the vital role of the marketplace in adopting new technologies and incenting further discoveries.

Our office is not standing back with our fingers crossed hoping that the market will work its magic.

Instead, we have changed our direction and quickened our pace.

So, friends, I'm here to ask for your help.

Whether you want to help our economy, our national security, or our environment, we must all think differently.

I ask that you tour our nation's labs, visit me in DC, and bring your business skills to the table.

Whether it is next year, next decade, or 100 years from now, the earth will eventually demand new forms of energy—and we have no plans to sit back and wait for that moment of truth.

We have the ability, the intelligence, and—rare is this found in Washington DC—the bipartisan support to do it and do it now.

Thank you for your hard work and your leadership, and enjoy the rest of the evening.