Small Business And Energy

As I mentioned the other day, I get asked to participate in a lot of debates in my job. Very frequently, the subject is energy and the environment. Unless my debate opponent and I know each other and have done a debate before, I'm invariably surprised by something my opponent says (no doubt they're surprised by something I might say, too).

A lot of times, these surprises come because the person really doesn't understand the difference between small and large businesses, or really doesn't understand the practical impact of what they're proposing in the real world.

I talk to small business owners. A lot of them. About a lot of different things. And these days, energy is on a lot of their minds. I got a phone call just the other day, for instance, from an AMISH small business owner, about the concerns he's having regarding energy costs. Let me tell you, if a member of the Amish brethren is so concerned about a subject that he or she actually goes to the trouble of making a phone call, then there's really something going on.

So I get a bit troubled when people discount the impact of policies that will drive up the cost of energy, or people who don't think that such policies will harm small business owners.

But my position can be summed up in this clip from Northeast Public Radio. I come in at 3:12.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1243308

I'm on for about a minute of the 4 minute piece.