Economic Crisis Limiting Gains on Clean Energy
Greening the world's economy won't be easy in today's gloomy economic climate. It seems that more and more countries are falling short of funds and motivation to invest in green technology and energy-efficient industries, according to an article in yesterday's New York Times.
In China — the largest producer of greenhouse gases — the need to limit greenhouse gases may not be addressed until economic conditions improve. One of France’s largest alternative energy companies has "pulled back on how much energy it will produce by 2009." And British energy company has put three wind farms on hold.
"European industry is saying they can’t deal with financial crisis and reduce emissions at the same time," according to Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "The heads of government have other things on their minds."
Not all the news is bad for green industry. President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus package includes incentives for wind farms, solar panels and fuel-efficient cars. And the European Commission still plans to seek a 20 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.
Agendas like these acknowledge that lifting ourselves out of the economic doldrums and going green are in fact complimentary rather than incompatible. As de Boer puts it, "If because of the current economic scenario, you choose cheap and dirty, we'll be in big trouble."
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