I like businesses.  I particularly like start-ups and their ability to re-invent the way business operates.  I think that is important when we begin to consider companies based on their 360-degree impact on our lives (that is, not just the benefits of the products and services they create, but also the potential consequences they produce).  The auto-maker Tesla comes to mind as a startup that is pushing electric vehicles into the mainstream with new energy and vision.

However, unlike well-run businesses, the federal government has a chance to make decisions that are short-term losses (well, maybe even a long-term losses) and not worry about quarterly reporting and firm-level ROI.  If they take a loss to change the cost, technology, demand or resource efficiency of the transportation industry – or even other industries – it can still be a success for the country and economy.  Whereas, if a private sector shipping company loses billions of dollars buying electric vehicles as an early adopter, it is held accountable while its rivals benefit from the advances in the market.  FedEx, UPS, Coca-Cola Enterprises and every other company that delivers products or goods can benefit from the USPS expenditure.

I am not saying that this is how it will work out.  There are challenges and no bill or initiative is perfect.  But it is how it could work out with the proper planning, execution and support.  To get more efficient government and corporate fleets, improved electric infrastructure and lower-cost, more efficient consumer transportation, it seems worth the cost and effort.

But are they really doing any good?

“Google is filling a gap in other funding sources, particularly today,” said Glenn Croston, founder of Starting Up Green.  “And I think that while they are not the only ones getting involved in the pursuit of clean energy, particularly with massive government efforts getting underway, they are influential.”

Google’s sister energy programs invest in other branches of the energy future including transportation alternatives and household conservation.. RechargeIT has created a fleet of plug-in hybrids at Google’s headquarters and made investments to organizations working on getting electric cars on the roads.  Google PowerMeter is an application that appears right on a users iGoogle homepage and tracks household energy use showing consumers what appliances use more energy and where they can save. (This does look really cool!)

“From what I’ve seen their pursuits may have seemed out there not long ago but they are right on track for where things are headed, with clean energy a major economic opportunity this century, starting today,” Croston said.

While there hasn’t been much mention of Google’s energy efforts in the news these days their Web site highlights a lot of organizations that have received Google.org monies and are hopefully hard at work on world saving technologies of the future!

Elizabeth Ulion is a graduate student at Northwestern University.

Photo courtesy of Lollie-Pop/Flickr