Solutions to a Global Climate Crisis

July 23, 2008

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“The good news is we can do it,” said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, about the United States’ ability to move aggressively toward a low-carbon economy. “We have the resources in this country, but do we have the will?” Resch joined other energy policy experts in a transatlantic dialogue on how to reduce carbon emissions and combat global warming at a Center for American Progress panel Tuesday moderated by CAP Senior Fellow Bracken Hendricks.

Helga Flores Trejo, executive director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in North America, delivered the opening remarks. She pointed out that “obviously we are in a crisis, an energy crisis, a global warming crisis,” but she applauded U.S. policy innovations occurring at the state level and encouraged more dialogue on how to support renewable energy and climate solutions at the federal level. Hendricks agreed that in spite of a lack of progress on national climate and clean energy legislation, there has been bold leadership in the United States from states, cities, and the private sector.

Silke Malorny, a senior adviser to member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms, focused on the success story of renewable energy in Germany. There is a push across Europe to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent, and increase renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2020. To achieve this, 20 out of 27 European countries have instituted feed-in tariffs—an incentive structure that gives renewable energy priority transmission, distribution, and access to the grid while guaranteeing preferential rates.

Malorny emphasized that aggressive deployment of renewable energy has many advantages. “It’s not only environmental benefits that we gain from this strategy, but it also has a very strong economic impact,” she said. More than 200,000 people are currently employed in the renewable energy industry in Germany, and the number is expected to double by 2020.

Resch spoke about the huge potential of both photovoltaic and concentrated solar energy in the United States. Germany is the leading solar energy market right now, but there is “massive untapped potential” in the United States because of increased sunlight exposure, he said. Resch suggested feed-in tariffs to boost growth in the American solar energy industry.

Although federal legislation has been repeatedly blocked in the Senate, Resch had higher hopes for the next administration. “The bottom line is the timing is right,” he said. “There is a shift in talent to renewable energy.” Along with long-term federal and state incentives, he encouraged long-term research and development coupled with public education.

Michelle Moore, senior vice president of policy and public affairs at the U.S. Green Building Council, saw the current situation as a good jumping-off point for further policy development, specifically in improving building efficiency. Buildings are responsible for 39 percent of energy emissions, more than cars and trucks, she said.

Moore encouraged re-education of the old-fashioned building industry to make going green not just advantageous, but imperative. She supported legislative efforts like the recent California statewide green building code to stress water conservation and energy efficiency.

The final speaker, Eduardo Santos, deputy head of the Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, divided the European emissions trading experience into four stages. “It doesn’t have to be perfect from the start,” he said. Instead, he stressed “learning by doing” in reduction of carbon emissions through creating scarcity, transparency, liquidity, and long-term predictability.

Santos suggested a gradual tightening and more vigilant enforcement of the cap on carbon emissions to keep up with the Kyoto Protocol requirements, while also trying to decrease emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Finally, he reiterated the importance of global cooperation on emissions reductions.

Hendricks, who moderated the forum, said it was “important for showing how an economic growth strategy fueled by clean and renewable energy could be moved by smart global warming policies.” He also noted there is much we can learn from the European experience as we design a greenhouse gas emissions trading plan that has tight caps and full auctions of permits.

The speakers also stressed the need for a shift in the national mindset. “We’re not going to solve this problem with the same ideas that got us into it,” Moore said.

For more on this event, please visit the events page.