Gates and Co.: Feds should devote $16B to clean energy innovation

OK, so I'm just a writer-type who happens to care a lot about how technology affects society. I don't watch much television at all, but I'm actually watching the clock right now for what I am hoping will be a historic speech by President Obama about the oil spill in the Gulf.

As a result of this mess, I sincerely wish for just a little more equity when it comes to the amount of investment that our nation puts into clean energy technologies. Maybe you won't listen to me when I say that I believe the federal government should take this oil spill crisis as a call to action and put more money not just into clean-up technologies, but into alternatives. But I'LL BET you'll listen to Microsoft-founder-turned-tech-philanthropist Bill Gates.

Gates' latest blog post is nothing less than a stake in the ground calling for "energy technology innovation." Although Gates doesn't tie his post to the BP mess, the timing sure gets me thinking.

He writes:

"I think the United States can and should lead the way in finding new energy solutions, and I’m optimistic about our ability to innovate our way to a better future. But we need to get going. Developing new ways to generate enough clean, reliable, low-cost energy could take 10 or 20 years, and then it will take more time to build out a new energy infrastructure."

Gates is part of the relatively new American Energy Innovation Council, which also happens to include Xerox Chairman and CEO Ursula Burns and legendary tech investor John Doerr. The council has made five very specific recommendations for technology-related investments that could affect our future. Gates' argument is also captured on video (as are several others):