{"id":4968,"date":"2010-03-09T13:10:57","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T21:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=4968"},"modified":"2018-02-02T19:20:13","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T19:20:13","slug":"chu-time-to-end-paralysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/03\/09\/chu-time-to-end-paralysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Chu: Time to End “Paralysis”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Photo: Gretchen Weber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Energy Secretary Steven Chu<\/a> returned to his old stomping grounds at Stanford University yesterday with a broad outline for jump-starting “a clean energy industrial revolution.”\u00a0 Speaking to a packed auditorium of students and faculty, Chu advocated the passage of a comprehensive energy bill, saying that increased innovation and investment in “clean tech” is essential for American competitiveness, as well as for reducing dependence on foreign oil and mitigating climate change:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are right now in a state of paralysis. There are many businesses who say ‘No, no, we can\u2019t do this, this country was founded on cheap energy, that\u2019s what I want.’\u00a0 That\u2019s just holding off the inevitable. \u00a0So if we hold off the inevitable for another 5 or 10 years, I think we will lose. \u00a0Because the other countries are moving.\u00a0 And then we play catch up.\u00a0 And then we import their stuff.\u00a0 That’s what’s at risk.\u00a0 The future of the prosperity of the US is at risk.\u00a0 Energy touches everything.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chu said the United States is “not doing so well” in terms of clean energy innovation and cited the drop in US market share in photovoltaics\u00a0 from 44% in 1996 to less than 10% today.<\/p>\n

“The US innovation machine is the best in the world,” he said, and then recited a dismal laundry list of fields in which the US is no longer leading the way, including auto fuel efficiency, hybrid car batteries, energy transmission, energy transmission equipment, and nuclear technology.<\/p>\n

When asked by an audience member why the US doesn’t commit to a Manhattan Project<\/a>-style endeavor to solve the energy issue, Chu explained that a project at that scale would have an annual cost in the tens of billions.\u00a0 In comparison, the current base budget of the DOE is $3 billion per year.<\/p>\n

“I agree.\u00a0 We should do that,” he said. “Tell people in Congress how important it is.”<\/p>\n

Key to America’s success, he said is an energy bill that sends signals to the private sector that clean energy is a profitable venture, through incentives and tax breaks.\u00a0 He said that the federal government plays a role in grants and loan guarantees, but to scale technologies from the idea stage to the factory floor, private investors must play a role.<\/p>\n

“America has an opportunity to seize the day and to lead in what has to be a new industrial revolution,” said Chu.\u00a0 “It’s our choice. Do we want to be leaders or followers?”<\/p>\n

As if on cue, it looks like Los Angeles is about to crush one plan that might have helped put southern California at the forefront of clean energy generation and transmission. The Riverside Press-Enterprise<\/em> reports today<\/a> that Los Angeles officials will likely announce tomorrow that they’re pulling the plug on the contentious project known as Green Path North.\u00a0\u00a0 The project <\/a>would have installed 80 miles of high-voltage lines and towers to carry geothermal, wind and solar energy from Imperial County to Los Angeles and some Inland cities.\u00a0 The plans have met with opposition<\/a> from environmental groups and communities along the proposed corridors.<\/p>\n

The project was featured last year in a radio series<\/a> for Climate Watch by KQED’s Rob Schmitz, on plans to get clean energy from southern California’s deserts to its cities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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