climate and energy legislation

I just returned from speaking at the Atlantic Monthly’s Green Intelligence Forum 2010 which I told you about earlier this week. In several respects, the Forum presented an interesting contrast to the West Coast events I have attended recently. The crowd of 200+ was comprised mostly of Congressional staffers, Federal agency personnel and a mix of individuals from environmental nonprofits and Washington-based think tanks. The bigger departure was the non-stop discussion of the role politics and policy are playing in sustainability.

"We're going to take our money elsewhere." Maybe those words will have the impact that “global warming,” “climate change,” “green economy” and others have failed to make on skeptical U.S. policymakers. And who uttered the line above – Mr. Kevin Parker, head of Deutsche Bank’s asset management division – is no less important than what was said.

While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) decision to delay a floor debate and a vote on the RES-less energy bill until the fall is clearly disappointing, it is important to remember that the fight to enact comprehensive climate and energy legislation is far from over.

Last week, I participated in the North American PV Fab Managers Forum, part of the Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco. One of the hot topics was the role of China in the photovoltaic (PV) industry. Asia in general and China in particular have come to be a major presence on the PV manufacturing scene.

At the White House this morning, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke made a compelling case for America’s next great industry – the renewable energy industry. Speaking at the Clean Energy Economy Forum, Secretary Locke told an audience of top administration and business leaders that clean energy is key to creating “the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century.” We couldn’t agree more.

Last Monday Applied Materials celebrated the summer solstice – the day the sun shines in the northern hemisphere for the longest period of time all year – by hosting a five day series of online conversations via Twitter on various aspects of solar energy. These one-hour conversations featured a different expert each day to discuss various topics including solar energy legislation, utility scale solar, the solar industry in China and the benefits of solar installations, to name a few.

Today on the summer solstice — the day the sun shines in the northern hemisphere for the longest period of time all year — Applied Materials kicked-off its series of online conversations via Twitter with Mike Dabbs, Director of Government Affairs at Applied Materials by discussing the impact of comprehensive climate and energy legislation in the U.S.

Applied Materials’ chief financial officer, George Davis, met with Sens. Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I-CT) today to discuss what is required to address the world’s energy and environmental challenges.

Applied Materials and more than 80 other companies joined together in an unprecedented national effort to call attention to the need for bi-partisan climate and energy legislation. The group asks critical questions of policy makers about America’s energy future, national security and the country’s competitive edge among other key issues that would lead the country to become the world’s leader in the burgeoning clean energy economy.