Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy
Having just returned from a meeting today with Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing at the U.S. State Department focused on U.S. expectations for the climate change negotiations in 2010, I wanted to reflect on the central role that energy efficiency and other existing clean energy technologies must play as we develop and implement a post-2010 international climate change agreement.
Brad Penney, Director of Government Relations, Alliance to Save Energy
Last month’s climate change negotiations in Copenhagen left many feeling that the international community had dropped the ball on addressing the world’s rising greenhouse gas emissions and the need for clean energy in the growing global economy.
Stateside, the political climate doesn’t look as good as it once did for action on legislation that would cap U.S. emissions, dashing hopes that America might lead other nations to take the same step.
It is encouraging that President Barack Obama expressed strong support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation in his State of the Union address on January 27. Earlier this month the National Journal Experts Blog speculated on whether there was still hope for a cap-and-trade bill this year.
Though there is still time for Congress to forge a bi-partisan compromise on climate legislation in this session, most experts believe energy and climate legislation would have to be completed in the first six months of this year, given the mid-term elections, leaving open the possibility that the world may wait years more to see a new international agreement on climate change.
However, a delay in global action on climate change would not mean that international progress on clean energy will halt indefinitely.
Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy
For many of us, 2009 ended on an ambiguous note. At home, much of the positive momentum for climate legislation at the start of President Obama’s administration buckled under the weight of contentious debates around health care and unemployment.
Will 2010 be energy efficiency’s big year – the year that businesses, governments and consumers tap into its full potential? A quick look at the coming year shows promising signs– all the more reason to join energy efficiency advocates and leaders from around the world at EE Global, where we’ll chart a course to further fuel the energy efficiency movement.