Secondly, will we proceed to involve an increasing number of people within the transformation? We have over 100,000 farmers and ranchers currently implementing climate-smart farming practices. Will these fragmented climate actions proceed to expand?
The last item is how well we are able to construct the things we’d like. He was standing in the bottom. One of the things we are attempting to develop as a discipline is to professionalize the event of social license around latest technologies in order that they will be scaled. Can we construct on the speed we’d like, ensuring that when the tower is built, the community appears like they built a barn together slightly than as in the event that they ran out of time?
We talked about economic and industrial leadership, but political leadership can be really vital. Trump has signaled that he’ll withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement for the second time in five years. Wouldn’t that make it rather more difficult to attain the trajectory you only described?
Will this one motion spell the top of America’s climate leadership or sideline us within the progress we’d like? NO. But it carries symbolism and doubtless many second-order implications.
From the start of this administration, we had a climate headquarters within the west wing. New team. Gina McCarthy led it, now I do it. On my team now we have senior directors who deal with every sector of the economy, with experience in science, business, engineering and policy.
What happens when you don’t achieve that level of top-level focus, all fueled by a big commitment from very talented people? What happens when the United States shows up in multilateral forums or bilateral talks and doesn’t prioritize setting the foundations for a clean energy economy?
I believe what’s happening is that the United States is pushing American staff to the back burner within the race for clean energy jobs, and we’re reducing our influence around the globe. Not only will the climate not stop in the following 4 years, but our competitors should not slowing down – to leverage their clean energy technology advantage, but in addition to achieve global influence.
Four years is not an extended time. You needed to approach it with a second term in mind. Do you consider things you desire to do but can’t?
The most significant are, firstly, the sectors wherein now we have not achieved escape velocity. We must proceed to push for our economy. This is unfinished business that have to be continued by state and native governments, the private sector, and hopefully the federal government.
The second thing is to ensure that we invest enough in talent and workforce. In this country, now we have a nasty habit of harvesting talent from the top and never investing within the institutions that attract more people into the labor market. Trade unions are on the forefront of this; Biden has spent a number of time developing apprenticeships.
