Dark economy; brignt environment

Obama clearly gets the clean energy global warming issue. In contrast to his predecessor, Bush, his appointment of Steven Chu as Energy Secretary, John Holdren as science Advisor and EPA chief Lisa Jackson show he’s prepared to put horse power into these critical roles.

Horsepower is probably an understatement – as Steven Chu is a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in1997; known for his work in cooling and trapping of atoms with Laser light. This might seem a far cry from the environment, but I listened to a talk of Steven’s the other day and summarise some of his motivations and thoughts below:

- Chu decided that science needed to be at the forefront of fighting global warming and that he would focus on this area to bring clear disciplined thinking to this question

- As part of this transformation he became a vocal advocate for more research into alternative energy and nuclear power, arguing that a shift away from fossil fuels is essential to combat global warming

- He points out that last year with a trade imbalance of $750B the amount the US spend on buying overseas oil was $250B a large portion on the US problem.

- He has concise views on how electric cars, smart grids, renewable energy (including the use of surplus farming areas for biofuels) may transform the energy situation in the US – as well as traditional improvements in fuel economy in existing fossil fuel engines.

- He has joined the Copenhagen Climate Council, an international collaboration between business and science, established to create momentum for the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Obama’s Science advisor, Dr John Holdren is equally impressive. He has been focused on global environmental change and energy technologies / policies. He is the author of many articles and papers such as Ecoscience (1977), Energy in Transition (1980), Earth and the Human Future (1986), Building Global Security Through Cooperation (1990), Conversion of Military R&D (1998), and Ending the Energy Stalemate (2004). These give you an inkling into his leaning; which is solving the issue of global warming and not sending the troops into Iraq.

Lisa Jackson (the appointed EPA head) has worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) since the mid 1980’s. Jackson apparently headed programs, such as land use regulation, water supply improvement, water monitoring and standards, and watershed management. Whilst conservationist seem split in their feelings towards her a recent opinion poll said those who work on energy and climate policy were supportive of Jackson and those who work on toxic clean-ups at the local level were critical of her.

These are stark contrasts to the previous Bush appointees for example Sam Bodman who served as Secretary of Energy. This is a guy who for a dozen years ran a Texas-based chemical company that spent years on the top five lists of the country’s worst polluters. Bodman’s former company came under fire when a United Nations Panel of Experts produced a report accusing the company, along with several other US corporations, of helping to fuel the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) while he ran Cabot by purchasing coltan from Congo during the conflict and illegally plundering the country’s vast natural resources

The Environmental Protection Agency under Bush ruled that new power plants are not required to install technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, rejecting an argument from environmental groups. During the Bush administration, the EPA rejected the idea that greenhouse gases should be regulated like soot, smog precursors and other kinds of air pollution; despite an April 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said carbon dioxide fit the definition of a pollutant that could be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

So, Obama seems to have the right people and the money is being allocated. In line with the work I have been doing on Smart Grids in IBM, Obama announced $32B will be used to create a “smart electricity grid” to cut waste, and over $20 billion will be devoted to renewable energy tax cuts and credits for research and development on energy efficiency and energy conservation.

Things are looking up!