Google CEO Eric Schmidt Calls For Energy Innovation Bailout

As an adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, Schmidt tells U.S. companies to apply the technological principles that created the Internet economy to the nation’s energy infrastructure.

In a speech Tuesday at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., Google CEO Eric Schmidt called for an innovation bailout, a bold government-funded effort to create jobs by rebooting America’s energy infrastructure, and a reformation that restores trust in government by using technology to increase openness and civic participation.

"This may be the toughest economic time that most of us will face in our lifetimes," said Schmidt, who also serves as chairman of the board for the New America Foundation and as a member of President-elect Barack Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board.

Nonetheless, Schmidt proclaimed his optimism. "I’m an optimist," he said. "It’s important to say that up front. America is a remarkable place."

By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek

Full Story: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212100603&cid=nl_IWK_daily_H