P-I Venture Blog writer John Cook attended a City Club luncheon last week in downtown Seattle. He blogged remarks of 4 panelists -- Propel's Rob Elam, V2Green's David Kaplan, Bionavitas's Andrei Guschin, and Silicon Energy's Gary Shaver.

Shaver noted that the U.S. long ago lost its solar lead to Germany, where he says consistent policies gave birth to a domestic solar industry. "For a little company like ours, this is a scary time," he told Cook, "and I really fear that we are going to lose this opportunity."

Germany is a great example of clean-tech leadership; yet in many ways, the United States is not Germany. We're more like a large EU.

There are some actions the states cannot take alone, such as capping carbon from in-state sources. Even an economy the size of California is struggling with this. There is a real risk of investment flight to other states.

And there are some actions the feds cannot take nationally, such as renewable portfolio standards. A national RPS would require 50 chapters -- one for each state's individual situation, resources, and needs.

My take: Germany was an unlikely place for solar to blossom. Germany's leaders made the decision (brilliant in my opinion) to give domestic support to the development of a solar market, knowing that it would lead to the growth of a new industry and source of new jobs in the country.

It is along those lines that Washington state's leaders should be thinking. The opportunity that Silicon Energy's Gary Shaver alluded to is the made-in-Washington solar incentive, and that's a good first step.

At the national level, the Senate needs to pass S3335 to extend the ITC for solar and the PTC for wind energy, before they expire in December.

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