 |
When President Obama unveils his climate policy proposal in
the coming days, he should focus on the one key element of successful climate
and energy policy. It’s not about utilities or incentives or numbers, it’s
about ownership.
Climate-protecting energy policy succeeds when communities
can keep their energy dollars local by directly owning and profiting from
investments in renewable energy.
Look at Denmark, with wind power capacity sufficient for 28%
of its electricity use. When the world’s nations descended on Copenhagen
in 2009 for the climate conference, attendees could have gleaned their most
important lesson by gazing across the water at the Middelgrunden offshore wind
farm – 50% owned by over 10,000 Copenhagen residents. Local ownership
like this was the centerpiece of building over 4,000 megawatts of wind power in
Denmark, increasing energy independence by letting ordinary citizens
collectively own wind farms that brought money right back into their
community. Ownership let Danes focus on their own energy independence and
economy. Concern for the climate was secondary.
Andrew Cumbers of the UN Research Institute for Social
Development explains the ongoing strength of the Danish commitment to renewable
energy:
The participation of communities in the ownership and
development of the technology has been a critical factor in the successful
growth of renewable energy capacity. Surveys suggest around 70 per cent
of the population are in favour of wind farms with only around 5 per cent
against (Soerensen et al 2003), figures that are far higher than found
elsewhere.
Germany’s roaring success reinforces why ownership should be
President Obama’s highest priority. Over 60%
of mid-day electricity demand was met with wind and solar on a recent sunny day,
and almost 25% of annual German electricity usage comes from renewable
sources. Once again, it’s a people-powered transition (or as the Germans
like to call it, Energiewende, or
“energy change”).
Nearly half
of all German renewable energy capacity is owned by individuals, not
utilities. These small, quickly built distributed energy projects
multiplied quickly under simply policies that made it easy for Germans to own a
share in their energy future.
Despite numerous attempts by various political factions to
curtail the renewable energy transition (most frequently citing high costs),
Germans remain stolidly committed to growing renewable energy, with over
60% willing to pay more to continue its expansion. A survey
of Germans towns suggest that ownership, more than anything else, has built
this steadfast political support for a low carbon energy future.
Evidence that ownership holds the key to political success
lies closer to home, as well. After a near-death experience at the polls,
Ontario’s Liberal Party revised their renewable
energy program to prioritize new wind and solar projects that sport local
ownership and public support. Most U.S. state renewable portfolio
standards include language that requires or prefers qualifying projects to be
in state,* to link the economic and environmental outcomes. These
statutes have survived an all-out assault by the corporate-funded
conservative lobbying group ALEC. And one should not ignore the power of
having the Atlanta Tea Party testifying alongside solar power advocates against
monopoly utility Georgia Power, arguing that more people should be able to
generate their own energy.
Ownership is good politics not just because of who wins, but
how much they win. A study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
shows local
ownership dramatically multiplies the economic returns of renewable energy
for the host community.
No climate proposal from President Obama will sail past
Republican opposition (see: Waxman-Markey), but his greatest chance for a
climate legacy lies in empowering Americans to take control – with their votes
and their dollars – of their own energy future.
*Note: a recent court decision struck down this
provision in Michigan, jeopardizing the in-state preference for all states that
include this policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment