Jon Barsanti
May 17th, 2011 2:00 pm PTThe author L. Hunter Lovins made a presentation last night at the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasonton regarding her book "Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change." She made the points early and often that whether or not you believe that global warming is occurring, whether or not you believe that the science is valid, there is a finite amount of coal, oil, and natural gas and that there is a growing demand for fuels of all types around the world. She stated "You don't have to believe in the problem to believe in the solution."
She referenced during the opening moments of her presentation that the State of California, and Governor Brown, have a stated plan to increase our use of renewable energy sources to 33% by 2020. Currently 56% of our energy comes from natural gas, 15% from nuclear, 14% from hydoelectric sources, 2% from coal, and the remaining 13% is from renewable resources.
Ms Lovins made it clear that energy resiliency is directly related to economic resiliency. Using her presentation to literally, and figuratively, paint a picture for the audience, she gave four examples of companies/organizations that had taken on sustainability as a way to increase their corporate bottom lines: Diversey, Four Seasons, General Electric, and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt was quoted as saying "if counted separately, (GE's) 2009 ecomagination revenues would equal that of a Fortune 130 company and ecomagination revenue growth equals almost two times the company average.”
One aspect of her presentation that is often overlooked in the press is the job creation of the oil, gas, solar, and wind energy projects that are on the ground. Her presentation showed a 10-fold higher level of job creation for solar and wind generated electricity for than the same amount of Gross National Product Dollars that an equivalent amount generated through oil and gas jobs.
These numbers compare well with the direct and indirect jobs produced per $1M in output as reported by the The Center for American Progress 2009. Mass transit provides 15.9 jobs per $1M of output, while biomass, building retrofits, wind, and solar provide 12.4, 11.9, 9.5, and 9.8 jobs. The same level of output only provide 3.7 jobs for oil and natural gas, and 4.9 jobs for coal.
Lovins went on to discuss that an electric company looked at investing $800 million on a conventional electric plant and chose to spend $870 million to build a 250 Mw solar plant. Countries and communities are committing resources to convert from petroleum and coal to wind and solar. Lovins stated that Germany, which receives 70% less sunshine than the state of California has 15 times the amount of solar panels that we do as a state. As production increases, the cost to manufacturing decrease and currently generates 16% of itsenergy from renewable resources.
The author's presentation focused on three topics: Energy efficiency; energy sources; and the inevitability that those economies that do not adapt to the new energy paradigm will be left in the dust by those communities, companies, and countries that do adopt and adapt.
Capitalism is focused on the production of a product for profit. Consumerism, at least one definition, is focused on the consumption of products and services. Some corporations have found that that being green adds green to their bottomlines. The speaker mentioned that he Down Jones Sustainability Index is comprised of companies that have taken sustainability to heart, and that the index has grown faster than the standard Dow Jones Index. As consumers we can choose which capitalists that we choose to support.
We have seen the problem and it is us, to butcher Pogo's famous quote. Together we can keep our world, our businesses, and our communities green and growing.
Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/going-green-in-oakland/climate-capitalism-the-winds-of-change-review
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