Washington, DC - TechNet, the bipartisan political network of chief executives that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today unveiled comprehensive policy recommendations to spur the development and adoption of new technologies to improve energy efficiency, encourage use of renewable energy and protect the environment.

The policy recommendations reflect TechNet's commitment to addressing the energy imperative through a national energy policy that boldly commits to new green technologies and innovations, creating new opportunities for economic growth and national competitiveness. The report, "Green Technologies: An Innovation Agenda for America," recommends more funding for energy research and innovation, with more visibility and more strategic thought at the federal agency level. It also proposes federal tax policy reform to provide consistency and certainty to consumers and the marketplace. In addition, TechNet supports a technology-neutral Renewable Portfolio Standards and a market-based greenhouse gas emissions system.

"Innovation can solve many of the world's energy and environmental challenges while spurring new technologies and the growth of entire new industries," said John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco and TechNet co-founder. "America has a unique opportunity to play a vital role in the world's transition to cleaner energy sources as companies continue to embrace solutions that drive efficiency and environmental improvement -- and make economic sense."

"The climate crisis, America's oil addiction and global competitiveness are three powerful forces without easy answers," said John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and TechNet co-founder. "TechNet's proposal encourages a bold innovation agenda to address these challenges, strengthen America and ensure our position as a global innovation leader."

TechNet announced its green tech policy agenda during "TechNet Day," the organization's sixth annual trip to the nation's capital for CEO meetings with leaders in Congress and the Administration. The executives participating in the announcement of the Green Tech policy agenda included: John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco; John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Aart de Geus, CEO, Synopsys; David Pearce, President and CEO, Miasolé; Kinkead Reiling, Ph.D., President and Founder, Amyris Biotechnologies and KR Sridhar, Founder and CEO, Bloom Energy.

The TechNet Green Tech Policy Agenda:
The TechNet Green Technologies Task Force has developed policy recommendations to spur the development and adoption of new technologies to enhance energy efficiency, encourage use of renewable energy and protect the environment. The TechNet GreenTech Policy Agenda includes:

A strengthened national commitment to energy research and innovation

• Double federal funding for basic energy research
• Focus federal support on: basic research, technology demonstration and commercialization initiatives
• Designate a lead federal agency to elevate and oversee the energy research and demonstration mission
• Support a balanced portfolio of near and longer-term technologies
• Enhance the federal government's role as purchaser of new energy technologies
• Establish federally-sponsored Sustainable Design demonstration initiatives
• Encourage long-term, declining incentives
• Fund structured university partnerships and research to generate a pipeline of innovation and talent
• Fund public/private partnerships to support energy efficiency initiatives and education

Fundamental reform of federal tax policy to spur the development and adoption of new energy technologies

• Increase the level of incentives to spur new energy technologies
• Restructure incentives to enable market signals that drive new technologies
• Establish a long-term consistent approach
• Increase consumer incentives to change patterns of demand
• Encourage technology neutrality enabling the marketplace to pick winners

Federal and state commitment to technology-neutral Renewable Portfolio Standards

• Establish a minimum national Renewable Portfolio Standard
• Establish state energy strategies that include a base-level RPS that meets or exceeds the federal standard
• Incorporate performance-based, technology neutral features
• Promote standards based on energy demand to provide efficiency incentives
• Establish an effective tradable Renewable Energy Certificate marketplace
• Enable utilities to recover investments in renewable generation and transmission
• Strengthen the Renewable Fuels Standard program to support innovative biofuels

Design recommendations for a national program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a market-based system

• Consider design features that will drive the development and adoption of new energy innovations, including:
• Market-based system
• National marketplace
• Credit for early reductions
• Establishment of a robust opt-in program
• Assignment of value to clean technology solutions
• Allocation of allowances to support energy technology R&Dv
• Technology neutrality

Development of industry best practices that promote and expand corporate commitments and contributions to clean energy

"American companies keenly recognize that green energy solutions are not only the right thing to do but make sound business sense," said Dave Pearce, President and CEO, Miasolé. "Energy efficiency, sustainable development and environmental awareness are means of driving competitive advantage, lowering costs and providing value to consumers in a marketplace that is increasingly valuing these investments. Programs that reduce power demand, waste and inefficiency are driving corporate cost savings across industries. These important TechNet policy recommendations say clearly that to solve our energy challenge, the private sector and government must work closely together to create an improved environment for innovation."

"Working together, TechNet believes embracing green technologies and innovation is the answer to to America's energy challenge," said Lezlee Westine, President and CEO of TechNet. "We strongly believe this is an issue that cuts across the partisan divide in Washington and brings so many divergent groups together. TechNet and our Green Technologies Task Force remain firmly committed to working with Congress and the Administration to create a policy environment that supports these important goals to improve our energy security and environmental protection."

Energy Facts:

• The world market for energy is $1.8 trillion (U.S. dollars) annually (Source: U.S. Department of Energy).
• Demand for electricity in the U.S. alone is predicted to increase by approximately 50% in the next 25 years (U.S. Department of Energy).
• 60% of U.S. oil demand is met by imports from foreign sources (Energy Information Administration).
• The U.S. petroleum industry received between $134.9 to $149.6 billion in tax incentives between 1968 and 2000 as a result of various programs including expensing of exploration and development costs, alternative fuel production credits and other incentives (General Accountability Office).
• Predicted benefits to the oil and gas industries resulting from just the incentives included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 totaled $6 billion (ThinkEquity Partners).
• Renewable energy resources today provide approximately 6% of total U.S. energy, with the potential for significant growth (Center for American Progress).
• Overall federal funding for basic energy and applied energy R&D fell 60% in real dollars from 1978 to 2004 (National Commission on Energy Policy).
• Federal funding for life sciences research and development grew by 6.2% annually from 1984 to 2005, compared to annual increases for engineering R&D (2.1%) and physical sciences R&D (.4%) (National Science Foundation).
• Energy has been the least R&D intensive high tech sector of the economy, with investments in energy falling from .8% of sales in 1990 to .3% of sales in 2004 (National Commission on Energy Policy).
• North American venture capital investment in the clean technology sector totaled $2.9 billion in 2006 (Cleantech Venture Network).
• The U.S. federal government is the largest consumer of energy with use of nearly 1 quadrillion BTUs of energy and spends nearly $15 billion annually on energy products and services (U.S. Department of Energy).
• According to the Apollo Alliance, a large scale federal energy commitment of $30 billion per year for 10 years would: Add more than 3.3 million jobs to the U.S. Economy; Stimulate $1.4 trillion in new Gross Domestic Project; Stimulate the economy through adding $953 billion in personal income and $323.9 billion in retail sales; and produce $284 billion in net energy cost savings.

The TechNet Green Tech Task Force includes: Stu Aaron, Vice President of Marketing & Product Management, Bloom Energy Corporation; Phil Bernstein, Vice President, Industry Strategy & Relations, Autodesk, Inc.; John Denniston, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Robert Farnsworth, CEO, Sonnet Technologies, Inc.; Todd Glass, Partner, Heller Ehrman, LLP; Laura Ipsen, Vice President, Cisco; Paul Lippe, CEO, Qulas; John Melby, Senior Vice President, APX, Inc.; Diarmuid O¿Connell, Director of Corporate Marketing, Tesla Motors; Steve Papermaster, Chairman of the Board, Powershift Ventures, David Pearce, President & CEO, Miasolé; Dr. Mark Pinto, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Applied Materials, Inc.; Rahul Shendure, Vice President, Product Marketing, Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc.; Sue Snyder, Executive Legal Counsel and Vice President for International Policy and Relations, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD); and Donald M. Whiteside, Vice President, Corporate Technology Group Director, Technology Policy and Standards, Intel Corporation.

About TechNet
TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes the growth of technology industries and the economy by building long-term relationships between technology leaders and policymakers and by advocating a targeted policy agenda. TechNet members represent more than one million employees in the fields of information technology, biotechnology, green technology, e-commerce and finance. TechNet has offices in Washington, DC, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Seattle, Boston, Austin, and Orange County (California). Web address: www.technet.org.

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