Green Event, circa 1960: "Love your mother- Mother Earth! Come to the Quad tomorrow at noon to rally for the environment and against the politicians who poison our water and pollute our air. BYOB."
A Green Event, Today: "On November 14, more than 40 business leaders, eminent researchers, financiers, and policy makers convened at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA for the Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium to discuss conservation themes including pending legislation involving climate change and energy efficiency."
The 60s rally is historical fiction. The EnVisioneering Symposium is an accomplished fact. Washington is the vortex of important domestic issues, and energy efficiency is a focus on Capitol Hill. This was apparent at the Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium on Climate Change in Carlsbad, where a large portion of the discussion centred on climate change and energy efficiency legislation that may take hold with a new Congress and administration set to take over in January.
Industry Readies for 2009 White House In particular, panelists agreed that climate change bills that are currently in Congress would, if passed, significantly increase energy efficiency demands and dramatically reduce the use of HFC refrigerants, an issue of critical importance to the HVAC&R industry.
With President-elect Obama's emphasis on energy, energy security and "green" jobs, Kevin Fay, president of government relations firm Alcalde & Fay, projected at the Symposium that lawmakers will pass new regulations or modernize existing policy that has outlived its usefulness. This, he said, would include climate change legislation, although he projected such policy isn't likely to pass before late 2009 or 2010.
The 2008 bills, he added, had common approaches that could become the foundation for new legislation in the next Congress.
David McIntosh, former counsel and legislative assistant for energy and the environment for Sen. Joseph Lieberman, ID-Conn., said he expects legislation to affect the HVAC&R industry and mandate a phase-down of HFC refrigerants. He noted that each bill authored by Congress recognized the important roles that these refrigerants play in today's high-efficiency air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.
McIntosh projected that future energy legislation could include mandates for new energy efficiency standards, as well as subsidies and tax incentives. The Congress and administration could look to state initiatives as possible models for legislation, as well as past federal initiatives. He also expects that the Obama administration would enunciate a basic plan for climate change, outlining fundamental principles such as "cap and trade," targets and timetables, and affixing each to a specific industry segment such as transportation, utilities, and HVAC&R.
With such an outline, he said, Congress could begin work on specific portions of the agenda, without having to write a single comprehensive bill covering all aspects.
At times, planners should look at energy regulation from this policy-making perspective in order to adequately prepare for likely regulation.
Two committees-the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee-produced bills in 2008, and McIntosh said he expects the financial dimensions of the climate change issue to draw the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee into the issue. He also predicted senior staff from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy would also recommend input to legislation.
He urged the HVAC&R industry to closely follow the proceedings of these committees and agencies. Because of the changing of the guard in Washington, 2009 will undoubtedly be a big year for energy efficiency policymaking and planning, and every indication points toward more regulation or oversight of how energy is created, supplied, used, and priced.