Earlier this week I headed over to Copenhagen to meet with leaders from the United States Department of Energy, business leaders and several of my fellow U.S. Ambassadors. The negotiators where working relentlessly to overcome the many, many challenges that still remained to come to a verifiable agreement that will begin the transformation of our global economy away from climate changing fossil fuels to a whole new wave of renewable energy. This process is ongoing as I write this, so while I cannot predict the final outcome of the negotiations, I can absolutely confirm that the Obama administration is completely committed to reducing CO2 emissions to arrive at the goal of 450 ppm.
And President Obama is not alone when it comes to America’s commitment. I meet with business delegations from several states and with representatives of some of America’s largest companies — all of whom were at Copenhagen to support the President’s efforts. What is so important about this is the fact that the state leaders and business leaders realize that the new technologies and the green jobs that go with them represent the next wave of economic success and security. And that makes sense no matter whether you are a Democrat or a Republican. Don’t just take my word for it for this was precisely the message of California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor dropped by to speak with a group of us at the residence of the United States Ambassador to Denmark, Laurie Fulton. There he spoke to the crowd about being 100% with President Obama on addressing climate change.
The Terminator, I mean the Governor, also made it clear that America wasn’t waiting on Copenhagen to invent the new green economy and he pointed to the many laws and acts already in place at the state and local level throughout the United States. Here is Governor Schwarzenegger speaking to us.
I couldn’t help getting a photo with him. (As a fellow body builder, let me tell you that Arnold has still got it!)
Of course the real muscle at Ambassador Fulton’s event was Dr. Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize winning Secretary of the Department of Energy. Dr. Chu focused his comments on the critical role that attaining energy efficiency is going to play if we are going to meet our ambitious goals of cutting U.S. CO2 emissions by 83% by 2050. He kidded that some people don’t think of energy efficiency as being “sexy” … but he then said that when you want something enough, it is sexy!
Something else happened in Copenhagen that I know that I have never seen before, the United States Ambassadors from several countries came to Copenhagen to show their personal commitment to addressing climate change and reinventing our economy.
Pictured (left to right) are U.S. Ambassador Don Beyer (Switzerland), U.S. Ambassador Bruce Oreck (Finland – me, that is); Secretary Dr. Steven Chu; U.S. Ambassador Laurie Fulton (Denmark) and U.S. Ambassador Matthew Barzun (Sweden). Not pictured (because she was taking the photo) is Under Secretary for Energy at the Department of Energy, Kristina Johnson. For those who have not had the pleasure of getting to know her, she too is an amazing powerhouse.
