WWF Climate Blog
Domestic Climate & Energy Legislation is Crucial for Keeping America Competitive in 21st Century Energy Race
Published by Lynn Englum on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 18:57
Todd Stern, U.S. special envoy for climate change, recently spoke (9 Feb. 2010) at the Center for American Progress (After Copenhagen: An Update on International Climate Change Negotiations). While his remarks focused on Copenhagen and its significance, his most poignant comments addressed domestic legislation, the science of climate change, China and the energy race.
Last year in a Congressional hearing before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Stern stressed the importance of passing a Senate climate and energy bill (see, U.S. Climate Legislation is Key to Success in Copenhagen, WWF blog, 10 Sept. 2010). Stern reemphasized this, “It is critical that the United States move forward on the domestic front. And the more and the sooner that can be done, the better it is for us…The United States is the largest historic emitter [of climate pollution]. It is the second largest current emitter now. It has an obvious leadership role in the world on this issue… It matters a whole lot that the U.S. put a strong domestic commitment in place.”
Stern emphasized the importance of legislation for generating emission reductions from other countries, while also underlining its importance for keeping America competitive in the energy race of the 21st century.
Stern quoted Republican Senator Lindsay Graham (from South Carolina) about the growing advantage of China in the energy race of the 21st century. “Six months ago my biggest worry was that an emissions deal would make American businesses less competitive compared to China. Now my concern is that everyday we delay trying to find a price for carbon is a day that China uses to dominate the green economy.”
Stern also addressed the science of climate change and the issues of leaked climate emails as well as errors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. He stated the following:
Fundamental science of this issue is quite clear. The mounting evidence on the ground of what is actually happening and the growing sophistication of the modeling goes way beyond any particular set of data or any particular problems that occurred with respect to East Anglia or IPCC mistakes…The overwhelming body of evidence [on science] is not disturbed by this event.
People would not dream of failing to insure their homes, cars or their possessions for risks to those things that are probably fifty times lower than the risk that we all face from climate change and its effects. It is nothing short of crazy for us to be putting our heads in the sand and failing to take the kind of action that is required. And it is doubly crazy for us to… risk losing out …on the next great game of energy in the 21st century.
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