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Financial Times, Sheila McNulty - September 21, 2009
Obama should take cues from Schwarzenegger
President Barack Obama could take a few cues from The Terminator. While Obama campaigned on a platform to clean up America’s carbon emissions, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually doing just that while Obama stands along the sidelines and hopes Congress will come up with something meaningful.
Schwarzenegger last week signed an executive order directing the California Air Resources Board to adopt regulations increasing California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33 per cent by 2020. That means California will use renewable energy sources for a third of its energy consumption by 2020. This is what the governor had to say:
I am taking action today to make sure California remains a pioneer in clean energy and clean jobs and directing the California Air Resources Board to enact regulations to reach our 33 percent renewable energy standards by 2020. With this investment in renewable energy projects, California has a bright energy future ahead that will help us fight climate change while driving our state’s green economy.
It would be nice if, instead of trying to please all the people all the time, Washington, too, would do what was right for the nation at large.
Dan Adler, president of CalCEF - California Clean Energy Fund, an independent non-profit organisation designing and implementing innovative finance, policy and market strategy solutions for the new energy economy - seems to think setting high targets will force business to meet them. In Washington, the view seems to be it is best to set low targets to please everyone who has to meet them. From Mr Adler:
This new goal better reflects both the reality of infrastructure development - with long permitting timelines, complex financing interrelationships, and in particular the challenge of siting and building new transmission lines- and the basic nature of the clean energy transition. Transforming the energy industry is a multi-year, even decadal effort, and we need a policy framework that will function over that timeframe - no more boom-and-bust in the clean energy industry, but a stable platform for meaningful long-term growth. In challenging economic times, long-term, fixed-price offtake agreements, now backed by substantial grant funding from the federal government, represent tremendous value for the astute investor.
Hmm - a concept Washington should consider. Creating value - not compromise.