It seems that Bill Gates hasn’t lost all hope about the prospects for clean energy innovation in the U.S. under the incoming President Donald Trump, according to an interview with Bloomberg. The Microsoft co-founder said that he presented part of his agenda on investment and philanthropy in an eight-minute phone call with Trump two weeks ago. And according to Gates, the call was not entirely unproductive.
The billionaire tech entrepreneur has recently launched a billion-dollar initiative aiming to eliminate almost all greenhouse gas emissions.
“The key point I was pushing there was the opportunity for innovation in not only energy but also medicine and education,” Gates told Bloomberg, “and encouraging the idea that that’s a great deal and a great thing for American leadership.”
Fellow billionaires on board with Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures Fund, which hopes to achieve its goal by financing the development of affordable clean energy solutions, include Amazon Co-Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, venture capitalist John Doerr and Alibaba Founder Jack Ma.
Gates did acknowledge that the U.S. “will probably see at the federal level less incentives for” renewable energy during the Trump administration, a development which he called “unfortunate.” But he predicted increased investment in research and development, telling Bloomberg that “the most bipartisan piece of energy policy has been a commitment to energy R&D [research and development].”
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He was not entirely pessimistic either about the way forward in the face of Trump’s views—he does not believe in man made climate change, calling it a “hoax”—and his slew of appointments of fellow climate change deniers. “Innovations could be bipartisan. We should all do our best,” Gates told Bloomberg.
According to Reuters, lobby groups for the wind and solar energy industry are hoping that by reaching out to Republicans, it could result in congressional support for retaining tax credits for renewable energy projects, even as Trump prepares to take office in January.
