Monthly Archive: November 2025

Policy Moving Forward: Reversing Protectionism Targeting Cleantech

Last week, Carolyn Fortuna had an interesting article on Kamala Harris. Within that article Harris had a quote that asked an important question:“Why. Didn’t. I. Separate. Myself. From. Joe. Biden?”Overall, the most obvious answer to that question was that she didn’t have much time. Introducing ideas takes time, especially when you are busy trying to introduce yourself to people. Getting those people to understand those new ideas takes more time. Getting them to see the implications is not quick or easy. Candidates tend to listen to polls for what people want now and then repeat it back to them. Staying the course is easier.But we have time now. Time before the next presidential election. Time to explore new ideas. People have time to wrap their minds around them. We have the time to change course. Time to explore how to separate ourselves from the past and take a new path into the future.Trump’s simplicity clearly reveals flaws in approaches that might have been less noticeable with a more moderate execution. Opinions are shifting against Trump’s policies, especially regarding trade. We can further expose bad policies. We can create contrast with better policy. Leaders have an opportunity to lead on policy ideas, even if they are not yet in power to execute them.We also are free to separate ourselves from Biden. Blind loyalty does not help. We are free to criticize. The election is over. We do not have to debate whether distancing ourselves helps Trump. People can still support their team while policy evolves. Holding onto bad policy out of loyalty hurts us going forward.Which gets to another article by Steve Hanley on trade. Whether or not you think anyone can truly win a trade war, the US is clearly losing. Tariffs are being taken up by a the Supreme Court this week, which could have a long term impact not only on trade, but also on Presidential powers. A shift in direction on trade could differentiate from the disfunction and lead to better overall policy moving forward.