The Smiths have a Ford, and the Johnsons have a Nissan… but how long will it take the Jones to have a Tesla in your neighborhood?

Tesla Motors, along with Ford and Nissan, were recently awarded loans from the US Energy Department, totaling about $8 billion, to help automakers transition to making more fuel-efficient vehicles. Tesla Motors, which produces high performance, consumer-oriented battery electric vehicles, received $465 million to finance the manufacturing plant for their Model S, as well building a powertrain plant. The Model S, an electric sedan, expected to start production in 2011, will cost roughly $49,900, after a $7,500 tax credit.

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“We stand at a moment when global affairs are rapidly shifting, requiring that shared solutions tap all sources of innovation. Changes made today will have a lasting effect on our future, our nation and our world – demanding we understand the challenges we face and the opportunities for creative solutions.”

“Global Priorities:
Critical Choices for the Obama Administration”
63rd Annual Conference, World Affairs Council
April 2-3, 2009

The Westin Hotel in San Francisco last Friday was definitely the place to be if you wanted to hear some of the nation’s energy thought-leaders reflect on the energy crisis we are facing. Sponsored by energy giant Chevron, the World Affairs Council’s annual conference was a truly inspirational event that delved deeply into energy topics within the greater geo-political context of world affairs. With back-to-back speeches, panel discussions and breakout sessions, the day-long event provided different assessments of our energy behavior from various angles and offered sustainable solutions to protect our climate.

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Obama promised to create new jobs by supporting clean technologies and renewable energies, and he’s been pushing hard. Last week, he appointed activist and author Van Jones as special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation – a smart move given his popularity by the public, his visibility in the media and his ability to “bring people together like no other,” according to Ian who spoke to him at Berkeley last month. The new administration also just announced plans to channel $8 billion in weatherization and energy efficiency efforts promising to create 87,000 new jobs this way. Time will tell how effective these decisions are.

While the economy doesn’t seem to be anything close to recovery (yet!), career sites like CleanTechies have plenty of openings in cleantech and renewable energy.  Here are some of the exciting opportunities featured on the CleanTechies Job Board as of today – for more jobs, visit our website:

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It already has to some extent.  I hate to be overly pessimistic, but sometimes you can’t just “make do.”  With the exception of high expectations from the Obama administration, things don’t look particularly great between the news of job cuts from Ausra, SunTech, OptiSolar and the abysmal rate at which new companies (and projects) are getting financed. Since the valley-jarring Sequoia deck slowed down bandwidth throughout the bay area in a display of viral marketing that rivaled anything put together by web 2.0 gurus, valuations have gone down, budgets have gotten stretched, and start-ups with great teams and traction have been told to jog in place.

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