Experts Say China Could Help Produce A Greener World

By Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

Experts at a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholar's forum Friday said that if China is given adequate financial and political support, the country could go from being one of the world's biggest polluters, to one that produces more green technology using less environmentally unfriendly energy.

Barbara Finamore, the director of the China program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, made it clear that China's capacity to create green technology with better uses of energy would not be a "Sputnik race," rather every country would benefit from investing in a clean-up of China's energy use.

"This is a race where the opening up of the Chinese domestic market for renewable energy is also a major opportunity for U.S. companies to that are well-positioned... to take advantage of it and understand it," Finamore said.

Finamore, who just returned from China, said in order for China to become more environmentally accepted in the international community, cleaning up their energy consumption must occur provincially.

"What we've been able to do... is work in the pilot project level," Finamore said. "That's where the rubber meets the road, that's where you need to make a difference if you're really going to be able to achieve whatever climate agreements China makes. But we also help to translate them into national policy... in both China and the U.S. and into international policy."

The pilot project level Finamore referred to is a province-based test run of energy standard implementation, which if successful, could change national policy because, according to Finamore, China's pricing bureau "is never going to agree to open up the regulatory system for collecting electricity rates to energy efficiency, unless they're sure these programs already work on the ground."

David Doniger, a senior attorney and policy director also from NRDC said that it's in both the United States and China's interest to agree on a method of halting negative energy consumption that causes global warming via carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, or GHG.

Doniger noted that some American and international concerns regarding China's emissions, are relevant, including tensions regarding proposed methods to control emissions, such as: border adjustments, allowances and leakage.

He added that U.S. Cap-and-Trade legislation like the House's Waxman-Markey and the Senate's Kerry-Boxer bills should not be seen by China as part of a broader U.S. trade agenda, rather as a legitimate method the United States is using to change its relationship with the environment.

Doniger and Finamore were joined by Lynn Price of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, a group who in 2007 won a Nobel Peace Prize for their work on climate change.

Next bailout a "green" bailout?

At a hearing to discuss possible energy measures to stimulate the economy, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said that a "number of important energy measures" must be "a central part of any stimulus package." Bingaman felt that this upcoming Congress has a real opportunity to create a "comprehensive and forward-looking energy policy."

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said that Congress has done more to address the energy crisis in the last six years than has been accomplished in the previous 30 years. Domenici still suggested "an expedited process" in addressing energy initiatives because of the long delays that can occur due to current regulations.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) advocated for coal-to-liquid fuel technology. According to Bunning, this type of fuel would create significant jobs, substantially reduce emissions, and reduce our dependence on Middle East oil. He is also concerned with investing in other types of energy programs considering they are unproven and inefficient.

Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP), stated that CAP advocates for a $350 billion one-year stimulus and recovery package, part of which he called a "green stimulus." Hendricks said that one third of that package should go directly to clean energy investments.

Malcolm Woolf, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration, made specific proposals for any stimulus package in the upcoming year. Woolf wanted as much as $10 billion provided for an energy efficient buildings retrofit program, $6 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, $1 billion for the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program, and $2.5 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. He also argued for an 8 year extension on energy efficiency and renewable tax provisions that would allow for long-term job creation.

National Biofuels Action Plan Revealed

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman revealed the National Biofuels Action Plan today, an ambitious blueprint that would that would increase the level of biofuel production four times by the year 2022.

The plan would research how to integrate ethanol into the national economy, including the introduction of E-10, E-15 and E-20 gas (gasoline which is ten percent, 15 percent, and 20 percent ethanol, respectively) into the consumer market. The plan would also invest $1 billion into sustainable next generation biofuels.

We can’t rely on ethanol, said Secretary Boden, we need to accelerate the deployment of next generation biofuels. This included cellulosic fuel, in which non-feed crops were broken down and the sugars from the cellulose cell walls are converted into biofuel. A wide range of plants can be used to create cellulosic biofuel, including Switchgrass, Hybrid Poplars and Eucalyptus.

A new "Manhattan Project:" Energy challenges for the next president

The Brookings Institution held a discussion on energy challenges for the next president of the United States, where Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) spoke about his Seven “Grand Challenges” for the next five years. The 5-year proposal, which he calls “A New Manhattan Project,” includes integration of plug-in electric cars and trucks, carbon capture for coal-burning power plants, cost-competitive solar power, nuclear waste management, advanced biofuels made from inedible crops, green building construction, and fusion energy.

Alexander said that the idea behind the original Manhattan Project, which was implemented during World War II to help America secure a nuclear weapon before Germany, is relevant to today’s energy situation because “it needs to proceed as fast as possible along several tracks to achieve the goal.” Centralized leadership that channels the talent of many great minds, Alexander said, is necessary to the invention of revolutionary energy ideas so that America need not be “held hostage” by oil-rich foreign nations.

While some people feel that election year is “no time for bipartisan action,” Alexander said he “can’t think of a better time” and expressed his support for presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) decision to dedicate this week of his campaign to energy independence discussion. Alexander called Republicans the “party of supply” and Democrats the “party of demand” in reference to their respective solutions to both energy independence and climate change.

Clinton, Obama echo one another on issues

Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) spoke to a crowd of largely CWA members to thunderous applause and multiple standing ovations about their plans as potential presidents of the United States on issues that ranged from labor unions and health care to broadband internet and green energy, from the mortgage crisis and the looming recession to NAFTA and the pending Colombia trade agreement.

Both democratic nominees expressed solidarity with union members and criticized the current Bush administration for their lack of support for the labor movement. Clinton allied herself with union workers as the “underdogs,” who kept persevering despite being told to back down. Clinton said she planned to make the Employee Free Trade Act “the law of the land.” Both candidates called for an end to privatization and outsourcing of American jobs, and Clinton promised to end tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies if elected. Obama pledged to invest $150 billion over ten years in green technology and new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

Both candidates advocated making high-speed internet available to all Americans to enable them to compete within the global economy. They also opposed Pres. Bush’s attempt to secure a trade agreement for Colombia, urging Congress to oppose the deal and call for an end to Colombian violence before negotiations are made. Clinton called herself the only candidate with a specific plan about how to fix NAFTA, and also said that Obama has no plan for universal health care. Obama said he opposes NAFTA, that he is the only candidate who will help middle-class families, and acknowledged that although he and Clinton have run a “fierce campaign,” no one can afford another four years of Bush policy. He called for an end to fighting in Iraq, and a new fight for American infrastructure.

Both candidates also compared Sen. McCain to Bush and said that McCain would worsen the damage caused by the Bush administration. Clinton said that if McCain received a 3 a.m. phone call with an economic crisis at hand, he would let it continue to ring. Obama criticized excessive war spending as wasteful, negated a 100 year occupation in Iraq alluding to a comment made by McCain, and urged America to say no to a metaphorical Bush third term.