April 2008 Newsletter

Since the launch of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, we have worked diligently to assemble what we hope with be the signature achievement of our inaugural year: a strategy for a comprehensive, common-sense American energy policy. In preparing this strategy, we have met with experts from academia, industry, environmental organizations, and other energy stakeholders.

The consensus coming out of these discussions is that climate change is one of the central issues that we must address. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Institute accept the evidence  that the earth is warming, and we support strong public and private sector action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while advancing economic growth and improving energy security.

When you consider that 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions are energy related, a central challenge for our future energy policy will be to reconcile the projected energy growth with the need to reduce emissions. Transforming how we produce and consume energy is at the heart of successfully combating climate change. The Executive Branch and Congress have taken some initial steps while states are moving in their own directions. All three leading Presidential contenders support more aggressive measures. Yet even as we work with this and the next Administration and Congress to ensure that any plan is workable, there are also things the nation can do RIGHT NOW to address the challenge of climate change:

As a first step, our national energy policy must entail a renewed and more intense commitment to efficiency.

We must encourage energy consumers and producers to use fuel and power more efficiently--especially by improving buildings, appliances, and products; expanding consumer recycling; and modernizing our transportation infrastructure.  These efforts should be backed by stringent government standards and positive incentives.  Wasting energy is wrong at any price. Serious reductions in greenhouse gases can be achieved through greater efficiency.

The right approach to energy efficiency should allow us to use less fuel and power to produce the same amount--or more--of lighting, heating, transportation and other energy services.

• Lighting--Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and can last up to ten times longer. If each household replaced a single regular bulb with a fluorescent bulb, consumers would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants comparable to taking 1 million cars off the road. Last year, Americans purchased more than 126 million of these energy efficient light bulbs. Advanced lighting would also mean lower energy use at our office buildings and factories.
• Heating--We can replace older boilers with highly efficient combined heat and power systems, which generate electricity and high-press steam for industrial and commercial uses. New tax incentives could expand the use of this critical technology.
• Transportation--Consumers are already buying thousands of new, hybrid vehicles that run on gasoline and electricity, a system that means lower carbon emissions. On average, hybrids are twice as efficient as conventional cars and trucks and automakers expect to have plug-in hybrids available for consumers in the next several years. 

Answering the challenge of climate change will be one of the most important policy decisions of the next administration.  The Institute for 21st Century Energy stands ready to support a federal approach to climate change that builds on a positive program of efficiency, technology and global action--if it is sensible, achievable, and measurable while securing our energy supply and creating American jobs.  At the end of the day, we cannot have energy security without being responsible environmental stewards.

Best regards,

Jim Jones

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE ENERGY INSTITUTE

General Jones and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd discuss energy issues.

• General Jones and Executive Vice President Karen Harbert met with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
• General Jones and Vice President Fred Smith participated in the first meeting of a climate change policy dialogue between U.S. and Japanese business leaders.
• Institute leaders continued their efforts to raise awareness of our energy challenges through work with the media and speeches. General Jones spoke to the Naperville Chamber of Commerce and the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Harbert addressed the Alliance to Save Energy annual meeting on energy efficiency. She also spoke about global energy challenges to members of the Council of Americas at a meeting in Florida. And Ms. Harbert addressed the Milken Institute’s Global Conference on the Future of Oil and Gas.
• Vice President Fred Smith spoke about activities at the Institute, including its upcoming policy report, at a meeting of representatives of the American Chambers of Commerce in Europe.

FUEL FOR THOUGHT: EARTH DAY

1. A December 2007 poll by the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth concluded that the majority of Americans believe global warming is occurring. But they do not view it as a "planetary emergency."
2. Global rates of deforestation, which accounts for nearly one-fourth of global greenhouse gas emissions, fell 18 percent between 2000 and 2005.
3. Chinese polls show that business leaders see air pollution as a significant economic concern.
4. Nearly 40 percent of Chinese employers reported in a 2006 A.C. Nielsen survey that they are having trouble recruiting workers because of high pollution levels.
5. Private investment in alternative energy accounted for more than 8 percent of U.S. venture capital spending in 2006, up from 1 percent in 1996.