By Barry Worthington, Executive Director, U.S. Energy Association
It was a moment I’ll never forget at last week’s 19th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum in Washington D.C. My organization, the U.S. Energy Association, sponsors this yearly event with Johnson Controls, Inc.
The National Press Club ballroom was packed with not only a who’s who in energy policy, but also with the people around the country who are responsible for leading energy decisions in their businesses, school districts, hospitals, colleges and local governments. Indeed, the mayors of Seattle, Trenton, N.J., and York, Penn. had earlier participated in a rousing panel talking about the need for local action as the country awaits a national climate change policy. The audience’s engagement at that point was tremendous, but it’s not the moment I’m referring to.
Nor was it immediately after the speeches by the Obama and McCain surrogates – Jason Grumet of the National Commission on Energy Policy and former Senator and Governor George Allen, respectively. Both did an outstanding job of providing a glimpse of what we can expect with a new administration, no matter who is at the helm.
The moment didn’t occur during U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman’s keynote address, which touched on some of the Bush Administration’s advances in energy policy over the past eight years. His strong assertion that the American people are calling for action and taking action themselves said a great deal about the changing landscape of public opinion.
No, the moment took place during an amazing presentation by author and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. It started with his reading – for the first time in the United States, he noted – from his forthcoming book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America." He then described a world with a burgeoning middle class that increasingly is looking for the same material comforts that Americans and Europeans enjoy. The energy it will take to enable those comforts combined with the growing impact of climate change creates some very tangible economic, social and environmental threats to our own existence
I briefly turned my head from my place near the front of the audience and looked around. At that moment, every single person in the room – the Democrats, the Republicans, the hospital administrators, the environmentalists – was leaning forward in his or her chair, actively listening to each word.
They all understood that energy demands will affect them in profound ways, and sooner than they ever thought. It didn’t matter what their political persuasion was, or what business they were in, or where they lived. It dawned on them, as it is beginning to become understood by many, that something has to be done.
Then I turned back to Mr. Friedman. He continued speaking in subdued tones with powerful messages about how Americans can benefit by working together to find solutions that will strengthen us as a country. It’s clear that energy efficiency will play a significant role in this post-partisan approach to solving problems.
I’m pleased that the Energy Efficiency Forum has contributed to the ongoing discussion. I’m looking forward to our 20th anniversary in 2009, when we can see how the next administration, Congress and all the local players will have in impact.
Barry Worthington is the Executive Director of the U.S. Energy Association, an association of public and private energy-related organizations, corporations, and government agencies. USEA represents the broad interests of the U.S. energy sector by increasing the understanding of energy issues, both domestically and internationally.
