U.S. Called to Lead on Renewables

The Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) is now in session, bringing together global leaders to discuss their sustainable success stories and to address the current challenges.

The visiting guests are using the event to call on the hosting nation to lead rather than follow on renewable energy policy.

Germany's Parliamentary Secretary of State Michael Müller spoke at a morning event and then held a press conference to reinforce his point: Europe is ahead of the U.S. in renewables, but international adoption requires U.S. leadership.

Müller said that the U.S. has been an impediment rather than aiding global renewable energy growth. He cited the administrations of President's Bush and Clinton for indifference to climate change and clean energy. He said Europe was reluctant to agree to the Kyoto Protocol, but made concessions to appease the U.S., which then turned its back on the agreement. He described both administrations as a disappointed, and he was dismayed that when Bush addressed the German Parliament, he did not mention climate change or renewable energy.

Through a translator, Müller said that he is hopeful that the next president would change that. However, he said the current presidential candidates have been light on specific proposals for renewable energy.

I asked him how long the U.S. Congress should extend the production tax credits for solar and wind energy that are set to expire this year. Müller said that Germany's decision to establish 20-year production credits has been crucial in making Germany the world leader in renewable energy. He said that while large energy producers originally resisted, they now all participate in the program that provides a feed-in tariff for producing renewable energy. Energy producers of fossil fuel-based electricity pay for the tariff, which is between 8 and 10 Euro cents for wind energy.

Germany also invests profits from carbon emission fees into renewable energy research and marketing.

So far German renewable energy companies have been slow to penetrate the U.S. market, but Müller expects that to change soon.