There must have been several hundred people in the vast ballroom at the Westin to hear Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speak at the State of the Downtown lunch in November. I was lucky to be one of them, but if you were not, or even if you were, here’s my (excited, inspired) take on what he said.
In case you’re not familiar with him, RFK Jr. is a noted environmental activist, among his other pursuits, and the environment – and economy – was the topic of his talk that day. He observed that it is eminently possible for Americans to move our transportation and energy generation away from carbon-based energy sources and into renewables. He said we have sufficient solar and wind resources within this country to generate all our needs for these sectors (with some to spare). He described how Iceland had “decarbonized” its energy system, and in the process went from being the poorest European nation in the 1970’s to the fourth wealthiest per capita in the world.
He also described how Israel is implementing a three-year plan to convert every car in the nation to battery operation. The cars are so inexpensive they’ll be given away; the batteries will be owned by the utility and will be swapped out in less than thirty seconds in changing stations. Moreover, this enormous raft of batteries will provide energy storage for the entire country’s power supply. As a side note, he pointed out that a car powered by electricity made from coal still produces less CO2 than a classic internal combustion engine.
So what’s standing in our way? We do need to change several physical and economic characteristics of our energy systems. For example, we provide substantial subsidies to “incumbent” energy sources – tax credits for oil production, for example – that make it harder for renewables to compete. If and as we implement trading systems for carbon credits, the effect of these subsidies will be reduced, since all market participants will have to pay the market price.
He also pointed out that we must update our power transmission grid dramatically to address energy storage and long-haul transmission – so that we can get solar and wind energy from inland, where it’s mostly generated, to more populated areas where it’s used. This can be costly – but think of all those free electrons raining down on us day after day! We also need to change state laws (California’s included) to make it possible for local power generation (such as residential rooftop solar panels) to contribute to the grid.
Mr. Kennedy estimated it could cost a trillion dollars to get free energy for all Americans forever. What consumers save on the cost of energy, he pointed out, provides an indefinite economic stimulus, not just a one-time boost. While the price tag sounds high, we’ve paid that and more for other national priorities.
As President-Elect Obama chooses his cabinet and advisers, it’s clear that he’s taking on an enormous economic challenge. In fact, I’ve heard that RFK, Jr., could be a candidate to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While this would be wonderful, it’s not essential to success in the matters at hand. I actually think that fixing our economic troubles should be as easy as falling off a log: reinvesting in crumbling transportation and energy infrastructure and developing clean non-emitting technologies in the process will stimulate innovation and private investment, put millions of Americans to work, and green our environment.
The title of Mr. Kennedy’s talk was “Planting Seeds of Environmental Change.” He certainly planted some seeds here in Long Beach, and I’m grateful to whoever it was that was able to get him here to speak. I’m looking forward to a greener and more prosperous future.