I WANT TO FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF REDUCING OUR USE OF FOSSIL FUELS

 

THE LATE NELSON MANDELA SAID: “IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL IT IS DONE.”

 

JOSEPH SCHUMPTER WROTE: “THE CENTRAL POINT OF CAPITALISM IS THAT IT CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD AS AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS INNOVATION AND ‘CREATIVE DESTRUCTION.”

 

SCHUMPTER IDENTIFIED DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION AS THE CRITICAL DIMENSION OF ECONOMIC CHANGE. 

 

IN BRIEF, YOU HAVE TO BREAK AN EGG TO MAKE AN OMELETTE. 

 

HENRY FORD BECAME THE WORLD’S RICHEST MAN BECAUSE HE CREATED A SOLUTION FOR HELPING PEOPLE TO TRAVEL FASTER.

 

INSTEAD OF RELYING ON GETTING A FASTER HORSE, HE CREATED THE MODEL T

OF COURSE WE WILL NEED TO OVERCOME 

INERTIA, AVERSION TO RISK, EXTENSIVE REGULATION 

AND COMPLEX POLITICS. 

 

MOREOVER, THE UNITED STATES MIGHT NOT REMAIN NUMBER ONE IN LEAVING CARBON BEHIND. 

195 COUNTRIES, SADLY NOT US, ARE COMMITTED TO THE PARIS CLIMATE GOALS

 

WHY HAD AMERICA HISTORICALLY BEEN NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN IMPLEMENTING CLEAN ENERGY?

 

THE PRIMARY REASON IS OUR UNIQUE AND EXTENSIVE COLLABORATION ALONG THE ENTIRE CHAIN OF INNOVATION

 

FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO DEPLOYMENT 

 

WE HAVE ENGAGED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, RESEARCH INSTITUTES, UNIVERSITIES, AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR 

 

JUST AS AMERICA SUBSIDIZED THE BUILDING OF RAILROADS AND CREATED A NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM TO HELP THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY, 

WE NEED TO SUPPLEMENT THE MARKET PLACE TO HASTEN THE ADOPTION OF FOSSIL FREE ALTERNATIVES. 

 

THAT SAID, THE EVIDENCE IS OVERWELMING THAT WE CAN ADOPT RENEWABLES WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK. STATED DIFFERENTLY, ADOPTING RENEWABLES MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE.

 

ACCORDING TO A MORGAN STANLEY REPORT OF JULY 5TH, 2017

• RENEWABLES SUCH AS SOLAR AND WIND POWER ARE BECOMING COST COMPETITIVE WITH FOSSIL FUELS

• THE PRICE OF SOLAR PANELS DROPPED 50% IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS (2016-2017)

• MORGAN STANLEY PREDICTS THAT SOLAR AND WIND WILL BE THE CHEAPEST SOURCE OF POWER BY 2020

 

WE CANNOT WAIT MUCH LONGER TO REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUELS.

 

A MCKINSEY REPORT, TITLED GLOBAL ENERGY PERSPECTIVE 2019, PROJECTED BAD NEWS ON THE CLIMATE FRONT:

 

BECAUSE OF INDUSTRIAL AND POPULATION GROWTH UNLESS WE TAKE REMEDIAL ACTION

WE WILL USE MORE FOSSIL FUELS

• MCKINSEY PREDICTS THAT TEMPERATURES WILL RISE 2% BY 2100.

A 2% INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE WILL CAUSE GLACIERS TO MELT, SEA LEVELS TO RISE, AND BE CATASTROPHIC TO OUR CORAL REEFS.

• CORAL REEFS ARE THE SOURCE OF FOOD FOR MILLIONS, 

• THE SOURCE OF NEW MEDICINES, 

• BUFFERS SHORELINES FROM CURRENTS, WAVES, AND STORMS.

• ALL OF US IN SARASOTA WERE HEART BROKEN LAST SUMMER BY THE DEATHS OF THOUSANDS OF FISH, HUNDREDS OF MANATEES, 300 SEA TURTLES, AND A DOZEN DOLPHINS

TO STOP THE EMISSION OF FOSSIL FUELS WE WILL NEED TO MAKE FAR-REACHING DECISIONS THAT REDUCE CARBON DEMAND.

 

LET ME STRESS THE POSITIVE: THE SAME MCKINSEY REPORT, ARGUED THAT WITHIN 5 YEARS; NEWLY-BUILT SOLAR OR WIND CAPACITY WILL BE COST-COMPETITIVE WITH EXISTING CONVENTIONAL PLANTS.

 

WHY I AM SO CONFIDENT ABOUT SOLAR ENERGY’S FUTURE?

FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT PLANS TO BUILD THE WORLD’S LARGEST BATTERY. 

IT WILL COLLECT ELECTRICITY FROM SOLAR PANELS IN THE DAY AND DISCHARGE IT AS NEEDED TO AS MANY AS 329,000 AVERAGE FLORIDA HOMES.

 

LET US LOOK AT SOME MORE POSITIVES FROM THE MCKINSEY REPORT

• FIRST OF ALL, THEY PREDICT A FLATTENING IN OIL DEMAND BY 2030’S

• SECONDLY, THEY FORECAST CARBON EMISSIONS WILL DECLINE BY THE MID 2020’S

• THIRDLY, THEY ANTICIPATE THAT RENEWABLES WILL THE POWER SOURCE FOR 50% OF UTILITY PLANTS BY 2035

• FOURTHLY, GAS WILL BE THE ONLY FOSSIL FUEL TO INCREASE ITS SHARE OF GLOBAL ENERGY DEMAND

• LASTLY, THEY PREDICT THAT HYDROGEN WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FUTURE. HYDROGEN CAN POWER FUEL CELLS

 

CAPITALISM HAS REPEATEDLY PROVED THAT INNOVATION ENRICHES OUR LIFE STYLES

 

CLEAN ENERGY SUPPORTS MULTIPLE NATIONAL GOALS: 

ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS,

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY, 

ENERGY SECURITY, 

AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

AT 75 I WOULD DO CART WHEELS IF AMERICA IMPORTED NOT ONE BARREL OF OIL.

 

TODAY WE ARE EXPERIENCING RECORD LEVELS OF EMPLOYMENT, NOT ONLY AT THE TOP OF THE ECONOMIC LADDER, BUT ALSO FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE. 

 

MINORITIES SUCH AS BLACKS AND HISPANICS ARE EXPERIENCING THE LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS SINCE RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT.

 

THINK OF OUR ECONOMIC EVOLUTION:

 

• IN 1776 90% OF AMERICANS WORKED ON FARMS. 

• TODAY, 1% OF AMERICANS WORK ON FARMS

• UNTIL 1920 MOST AMERICANS LIVED AND WORKED IN RURAL AREAS. 

• TODAY 80% OF AMERICANS LIVE IN URBAN AREAS

• IN OUR YOUTH THE GREAT EMPLOYERS WERE GENERAL ELECTRIC, GENERAL MOTORS, WESTINGHOUSE, U.S. STEEL, BETHLEHEM STEEL, SEARS AND ROEBUCK.

 

LET US LOOK AT SOME OF TODAY’S BIGGEST EMPLOYERS

• WALMART--2,300,000

• AMAZON-566,000

• HOME DEPOT 400,000

• BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY 377,000

• FED EX 357,000

IN BRIEF, MANY OF OUR BIGGEST EMPLOYERS DID NOT EXIST 40 YEARS AGO!

 

LET US LOOK AT AMERICA’S EMPLOYMENT PICTURE:

CURRENTLY, CLOSE TO 80% OF AMERICANS ARE IN THE SERVICE SECTOR

ABOUT 8.5% ARE IN MANUFACTURING DOWN FRON 30% IN PAST DECADES.

 

JOBS IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY

REDUCES DRAMATICALLY OUR NEED TO USE FOSSIL FUELS

 

TODAY WE HAVE 50,000 COAL MINERS COMPARED TO THE PEAK IN 1923 WHEN THERE WERE 863,000 COAL MINERS

 

AS WE REDUCE OUR CARBON DEPENDENCE, WE STILL WILL NEED ELECTRIC CARS, NET NEUTRAL HOMES AND BUILDINGS. 

 

STATED DIFFERENTLY, DEMAND WILL SHIFT BUT NOT DISAPPEAR

 

IN BRIEF, WE CAN REDUCE DRAMATICALLY OUR USE OF FOSSIL FUELS AND STILL HAVE FULL EMPLOYMENT. 

 

THIS IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION!

 

MOREOVER, AMERICANS ARE NOT ALONE IN ADVOCATING FOR US TO BECOME CARBON FREE 

WE ARE PART OF A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

 

LET US LOOK AT SOME POSITIVE EXAMPLES

 

CHINA WILL NO LONGER BUILD COAL PLANTS IN 15 REGIONS.

CHINA HAS BECOME A LEADING ADVOCATE OF ELECTRIC CARS. 

 

MCKINSEY PROJECTS THAT CHINESE CONSUMERS WILL PURCHASE 7 MILLION ELECTRIC CARS ANNUALLY BY 2026

 

COSTA RICA WANTS TO WANTS TO ELIMINATE ITS USE OF FOSSIL FUELS BY 2050. 

 

THE PRESIDENT OF COSTA RICO SAID: “CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE GREATEST TASK OF OUR GENERATION.”

 

COSTA RICA WANTS TO CREATE ENERGY THROUGH HYDROPOWER, WIND, SOLAR AND GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

 

TODAY, TRANSPORTATION IS COSTA RICA’S BIGGEST SOURCE OF CARBON EMISSIONS.

 

COSTA RICA WANTS ONE THIRD OF ALL CARS AND BUSES TO BE ELECTRIC BY 2035 AND 100% BY 2050.

 

AGRICULTURE AND GARBAGE ACCOUNT FOR THE NEXT LARGEST SOURCE OF THEIR CARBON EMISSIONS. 

 

TO CURB THIS, COSTA RICA WILL BUILD NEW WASTE TREATMENT PLANTS, RECYCLING, AND COMPOSTING SYSTEMS.

 

WHAT ARE OUR CHALLENGES? 

TODAY 63% OF ELECTRICITY IS FROM FOSSIL FUELS--

COAL                      30%

NATURAL GAS   32%

PETROLEUM      1%

 

NUCLEAR POWER GENERATES ABOUT 20% OF OUR ENERGY. 

NUCLEAR ENERGY WILL DECLINE FOR SEVERAL REASONS: 

FIRST OF ALL, BECAUSE OF STRONG POPULAR OPPOSITION WE CAN EXPECT ONLY A HANDFUL OF NEW NUCLEAR PLANTS. 

 

SECONDLY, OLDER NUCELEAR PLANS WILL BE DECOMMISSIONED.

 

LET ME STRESS THE POSITIVE

MCKINSEY PROJECTED THAT BY 2035 WIND AND SOLAR WILL GENERATE 36% OF OUR ENERGY POWER UP FROM 4% TODAY

 

WHY DO I BELIEVE THAT AMERICA CAN REDUCE DRAMATICALLY OUR USE OF FOSSIL FUELS? 

 

AGAINST ALL ODDS, WE DID SEND AND RETURN A MAN TO THE MOON IN 1969. WE ACCOMPLISHED THIS FANTASTIC GOAL WHEN A COMPUTER THE SIZE OF A HOUSE HAD NO MORE POWER THAN TODAY’S IPHONE.

 

CALIFORNIA, OUR LARGEST STATE, IS LEADING THE WAY FOR AMERICA

NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION WILL BE ZERO NET ENERGY BY 2020

ALL NEW COMMERICAL CONSTRUCTION WILL BE NET ZERO BY 2030

50% OF COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS WILL BE RETROFITED BY 2030

50% OF STATE BUILDINGS WILL BE RETROFITTED BY 2025

 

LET ME CONCLUDE BY SAYING THAT EVERY OUNCE OF ME IS A CAPITALIST!

 

IF MILTON FRIEDMAN, ONE OF THE 20TH CENTURIES GREATEST ECONOMISTS, COULD BE WITH US TODAY.

 

HE WOULD TESTIFY THAT THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY VEHICLE FOR REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS.

 

FRIEDMAN SAID: “SO THAT THE RECORD OF HISTORY IS ABSOLUTELY CRYSTAL CLEAR, 

THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE WAY OF IMPROVING THE LOT OF THE ORDINARY PEOPLE THAT CAN HOLD A CANDLE TO THE PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE UNLEASHED BY THE FREE-ENTERPRISE SYSTEM.

 

IF NELSON MANDELLA CAN LEAVE A PRISON CELL AND BECOME PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA,

 I THINK ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE