wilderness issues lecture series
“Green” Jobs Can Revive Economy, Golden Says
By Kyle Lehman, 4-16-08
To address the problem of climate change Americans must strive to create a “green” economy bolstered by federal regulations that promote innovation and investment, said K.C. Golden in his lecture Tuesday night at the University of Montana.
“The problem is upon us now,” he said. “It’s time to move from being very worried to being very focused on the issue.”
Golden’s talk, the final lecture in the University’s Wilderness Issues Lecture Series, focused on ways the United States can work to lessen the severity of global climate change while reducing our dependence on costly and unstable imported fossil fuels.
The policy director for Washington-based Climate Solutions, Golden said green jobs would both strengthen the economy and cut emissions necessary to avoid catastrophic warming. Opportunities for green employment can reach all levels of society Golden said, ranging from programmers developing hybrid car software to construction workers installing wind turbines and solar panels.
“There are green jobs to do everywhere. We have to reduce our emissions 80 percent by 2050,” he said. “Pretty much every job has to be a green job.”
Golden said that federal mandates and incentives are necessary to support innovation and encourage investment by large corporations that would drive development in the field. The cost of transitioning to a green economy would be mitigated by the localization of energy development and production, he said. Golden referred to the Sightline Institute Website that tracks the amount of capital leaving Oregon, Washington and Idaho: it’s about $61 million per day.
“This is what it costs to prolong the status quo”, he said. “There is nothing more expensive.”
Golden said that investment by large corporations in the United States will create the sort of domestic expertise that is needed to support this unprecedented transition while also reducing the cost of these technologies to allow poorer countries to purchase green technologies. Golden pointed out that this investment is already taking place, with wind and solar currently the fastest growing sectors of worldwide energy production. All this has combined to create what Golden sees as a critical tipping point where the rising costs of fuel and the expansion of alternative energy will change the prospects for our energy future.
“The cost of the alternatives are starting to become really attractive,” Golden said. “People can see and feel and use the alternatives.”
He told his audience to consider not only the environmental and economic benefits of green technologies, but also their broader implications for quality of life and national security. Improved transportation and cleaner air means healthier and more livable cities, and weaning America from foreign oil would create stability and security, he said. Golden urged people to gather behind the common goal of reducing dependence on petroleum, an idea that he said cuts across the political spectrum and gains support even among those who deny global climate change. Creating a national, economic context for addressing climate change is vital, Golden insisted, but he urged those in attendance to recognize the greater value of such a transition.
“We’re not just marching down this greenhouse gas reduction path, we’re building a better future,” he said.
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I like the way this talk was framed. He talked less about global warming and more about solutions to a whole host of social problems. National security, oil dependence, economic recession--all of the issues which we can all agree need some attention.
Still, these problems mean less to other, developing countries. In places like China (which has just exceeded the US in emissions), these aren't dinner table topics like they are here in the US. What can be done to affect change in these countries as well?
A switch from a commodity-based energy economy to a sun and wind-powered one will surely create obstacles, but they're the clear and obvious path we must take. By making energy cheaper and literally infinite, we empower the impoverished and enable countries lacking oil and coal.
I hope you all enjoyed the lecture series and our resulting conversation. I definitely appreciated the different points of view, especially back in the early days 9 weeks ago.
Sustainable enterprises and improvements to our environment beyond "just" conservation are very achievable in many locales, keeping jobs close and reducing transport costs while providing incentive profits to local areas. However, all must learn fast from the huge problems already causing havoc where deforestation and diversion of food crops to ramp up ethanol are occuring - to the reported point of drastically reducing food stocks and perhaps engendering upheaval if not starvation (an unfortunate juxtaposition to a leading climate change fighter who stated that the only way to stop the rapidly approaching destruction of climate change is to radically reduce world population -- oops; no new "pc" genocide vs. global warming mass deaths, please -- neither is acceptable in any way, shape or form). Also, in China, the silicon manufacturing ramp-up for solar panel production has reportedly resulted in massive toxic waste dumping. And, wind farm environmental damage has become intensive where overconcentrated (take San Gorgonio Pass area of Southern California as an example).
It is important to encourage our overview agencies and citizens - before permits are issued - to assure an auditable and pragmatic accounting for impacts and trade-offs, not a pollyanna-ish rush either to condemnation of efforts or to mass pillaging (clear cut for ethanol? A two-way loser).
Hope someone who was there can inform all of us outside of Missoula commuting distance of how those concerns were addressed - as a positive discussion base related to K.C. Golden's talk. 80% emissions reductions would be great - if the alternative doesn't destroy us! Thanks!
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/
The McKinsey Report is an excellent source for giving American options and a blueprint for action.