CHRIS MERRILL Star-Tribune environment reporter | Posted: Wednesday, July 2, 2008 12:00 am
JACKSON - Regulating greenhouse gas emissions will not kill business and will not be devastating to the economy, as some people argue, the head of the world's third largest company said Tuesday.
Rather, it will spur innovation and ring in a new era of growth for America, said Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, a $370 billion multinational conglomerate
Immelt was the final speaker at the Western Governors' Association meeting, which concluded Tuesday at Teton Village.
Immelt said he and his company believe that 'green' energy, coupled with clean water, will be 'the biggest growth industry of at least the first half of this century.'
GE invested $3 billion in green energy last year alone, Immelt said, even without any certainty about future state and federal policies regarding carbon dioxide emissions.
'This notion that business is just going to stop if we embrace clean energy and clean water is just rubbish,' Immelt told the governors and Canadian premiers. 'It's just not true.'
On the contrary, if the federal government could come up with an intelligent policy on carbon emissions - whether it be through a carbon tax, a cap-and-trade system or otherwise - which offers industry some certainty regarding the cost of emitting carbon for the next 10 to 15 years, businesses will adjust and innovate and figure out how to 'make a buck.'
Immelt said he has learned over the years that 'green is green' - meaning that green technology, whether it is employed within the company or sold outside of it, is a real money-maker.
More than five years ago, Immelt decided that GE would voluntarily adopt all Kyoto protocols for reducing greenhouse gases, and the experience of implementing that project has been an eye-opener, he said.
'I thought it would cost us money,' Immelt said. 'It's turned out to save us money.'
Clean energy innovation will happen with or without a coherent federal policy, he said, but it will happen a lot faster if businesses were given a clear picture of what the requirements and goals will be regarding greenhouse gas emissions.
Industry is good at operating within regulatory confines, but it is not good at factoring in the cost of such things as water and air pollution, he said. Putting a price tag on carbon emissions will be the role of government in this case, and once a price is established 'business will come along" and create a 'growth industry' in the United States.
The Western Governors' Association is in a unique position to tackle these issues and guide a new federal energy policy, Immelt said.
'If the governors here could create a vision, I really believe business will follow,' he said.
Most energy companies and investors are simply waiting for some direction, Immelt said, 'Because what we have now is chaos.'
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said if America does not create an economic environment that favors green technology innovation, it'll simply happen elsewhere.
'If we don't act, someone else is going to capture the moment,' Huntsman said.
The new technologies will be invented and proven, if not in America, then in Europe or Asia, he said. But it's in this country's long-term economic interest to be the innovators of clean and efficient energy.
Huntsman, who is the incoming chairman of the WGA, spoke about the federal government calling for a kind of 'moon shot' toward clean energy, and said the governors' association will work toward articulating a 'common vision' for a bipartisan energy policy the American people can rally around.
Jeff Sterba, chairman, president and CEO of the New Mexico-based electricity provider PNM Resources, said establishing a price for carbon will help create the market forces needed to speed up the transition to new energy sources that do not contribute to global warming.
But it's also important for members of Congress and citizens to understand, Sterba said, that things such as a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions are simply tools, and not policies.
'The week that Lieberman-Warner was debated was not the U.S. at its best,' Sterba said, referring to the most recent failed attempt by Congress to pass a cap-and-trade bill for carbon dioxide.
The central question while creating a new federal energy policy should be, 'How can we become the world's most energy-efficient community and society?' Sterba said.
Immelt suggested the new presidential administration establish a '2020 vision,' which would create requirements for a national renewable and non-polluting energy portfolio by the year 2020, with tax incentives to reduce the cost of the technologies and a concerted effort to reorient America's colleges and universities to focus on attaining these goals.
'We've got to start now, and we've got to do a lot of different things at the same time,' Immelt said.
Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona asked where the venture capital in the private sector is, and asked why there seems to be so little private money investing in these new technologies.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said at this point, investing in green energy is still a 'hobby' for most individuals and companies because there is too much uncertainty in the market regarding future carbon regulations.
Many private interests have a great desire to invest in new energy technologies, but they are waiting for a coherent federal policy with some guarantees regarding carbon emission restrictions, he said.
'There is a lot of money out there sitting on the sidelines,' Freudenthal said.
Immelt said GE will continue investing in clean energy regardless of federal actions, but agrees that the current policy, or lack thereof, is chilling private investment.
'What we have now, is we've got nothing,' Immelt said. 'It's a terrible way to run an economy.'
Because a shift in federal policy of the magnitude the governors are discussing would constitute nothing short of a political sea change, it's going to require strong guidance and dedication by a few very influential leaders, Sterba argued.
'I think the only way we're really going to get [an intelligent energy policy] is to have it take the personal interest of the president,' Sterba said.