A Plea for America's Green Energy Future from Top Industry Leaders
I have to hand it to star-studded leadership of The American Energy Innovation Council. They have true grit for issuing their report this morning right in the teeth of a strong economic wind with oil gushing into the Gulf and a balky and indecisive Congress poised for energy inaction. The Council's report, A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future, is an optimistic, energetic call to renew the national transition to clean, affordable, and secure supplies of energy.
The basic premise of the Council is that "the most critical element" in securing America’s future involves reforming and strengthening US investment in energy innovation and placing it "at the top of the Nation's agenda." No surprise there. Economist Tom Friedman of the New York Times and others have made the factual case eloquently for years. But that such a powerful collection of industry giants would make the case right now shows courage and urgency. From the report: "The United States will not succeed... without policies to ensure there are vibrant markets for clean energy technologies. Those policies may include some combination of a price or a cap on CO2, a clean energy or renewable energy portfolio requirement, or technology performance standards. The effect of such policies should be to create a large, sustained market for new energy technology. Our nation cannot succeed without it.” The Council is accompanying their media campaign with a blitz of Congress, where members would be wise to listen to the likes of Bill Gates, chairman and former chief executive of Microsoft, Norm Augustine, former chairman of Lockheed Martin, Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive of Xerox, John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins, Chad Holliday, chairman of Bank of America and former CEO of DuPont, Jeff Immelt, chief executive of GE, and Tim Solso, chairman and chief executive of Cummins.
In releasing the report, Bill Gates said that “low-cost clean energy is the single most important way to lift poor countries out of poverty and create more stable societies. The whole world would benefit from this, and the United States can and should lead the way. Council Chair Chad Holliday said, “During my time at DuPont, when science linked CFC use and ozone depletion, we knew the world had to change the model. DuPont used this challenge to invent entire new businesses. The United States can do the same to meet our energy and climate challenges." Indeed. The success of the Montreal Protocol in requiring domestic phase-out of CFCs is a case study in the interplay of regulation and can-do industrial innovation.
I urge you to read the report, which contains thoughtful recommendations for a national energy strategy board, specific increases in energy R&D funding, centers of scientific excellence, and large-scale demonstration projects. This report by industry leaders defies fiscal conservatism and states that increased investment for energy innovation is such a high national priority that it should be undertaken even in the midst of tight federal budgets. The group also notes that options for generating new revenue for energy innovation investment from the energy sector include reductions in subsidies for fossil fuels, license fees for offshore oil and natural gas production, creating an oil import fee, increasing the gas tax or putting a price on carbon emissions.
The Chair summed up the report's basic message this way: “A giant leap in energy technology investments and reform of our current system can make America a global leader in what will be the largest new market of the 21st Century. We have seen huge dividends from similar American investments before—in information technology, defense technology, and medical technology. But up until now, energy investments have gotten short shrift. That has to change if we are to control our energy future." Amen.
