OPINION
Bill Gates last week joined the CEOs of GE, Bank of America, Xerox, Lockheed Martin, and others, in calling on the United States to modernize its energy systems with investments in cleaner, more energy efficient technologies.
With Europe and China eating corporate America’s energy innovation lunch, I, too, would be a worried CEO if I saw my country giving up the lead in the driver of all future global economic growth.
What seemed especially ironic is how the group’s exhortation could easily have come from the top CEOs of companies based in developing countries.
Listen to this:
“As business leaders, we feel that America’s (substitute the Global South, Developing World, or whatever you choose to call it) current energy system is deficient in ways that cause serious harm to our economy, our national security, and our environment. To correct these deficiencies, we must make a serious commitment to modernizing our energy system with cleaner, more efficient technologies.
Of course, the irony here is that industrialized societies and the climate change movement are adamant about not funding more coal fired power plants to meet the energy needs of developing countries. But that’s another story we’ve blogged about before, so let’s not go there now.
Quoting from their manifesto, the CEOs remind us that to “continue with the energy status quo, we will expose ourselves to risks that pose significant threats to our way of life.”
Alas, this is already the state of affairs for those who depend on biomass for their primary energy. The irony of course is that the solutions exist, are inexpensive, and can be rapidly deployed to the great benefit of all, not just the energy poor.
While The Charcoal Project couldn’t be more supportive of this call to arms by America’s top managers, we hope they will also recognize the importance of promoting clean energy and improved fuels for the world’s 3 billion energy poor who are still burning biomass using 10,000 year old technology.
Kim
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