Climate change is to be central in a new transatlantic agenda, says German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Common green policies are what could give Europe and the US a shared set of goals and tools. Get them on the same playing field, so to say. In the optimistic afterglow of an Obama election victory, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) hosted a panel discussion. Why compose a panel of yea-sayers? In the end, with so much agreement on the panel, it remained the task of representatives of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to provide a critical word from the audience.
But the optimism on the side of the panelists at the event A "Green Alliance" Across the Atlantic? seems legitimate. Under the moderation of Jennifer L. Morgan, director at the British think tank E3G, they spoke about Obama's climate goals: an 80 percent reduction of CO2-emissions, a 25 percent proportion of renewable energies by 2050, and making all new buildings carbon neutral by 2030.
David Campbell, director for the Representative of German Industry and Trade in Washington, however, did offer a word of caution. According to him we should not expect climate legislation to pass at the US federal level in 2009, maybe not even during 2010, as previous attempts such as the Lieberman acts are practically dead.
"We have a bluer [more Democratic] Congress, but does that mean it is greener?" he asked, reminding that a California-perspective speaks neither for all Democrats nor for all Americans. "If [Speaker of the House] Pelosi and company decide to push the issue very hard, they may well cause a lot of problems for themselves."
After bailing out the likes of Citibank, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, after possibly bailing out the likes of Daimler, Porsche, GM, there may simply be no money left!
In addition to financial concerns, Mr. Campbell pointed out some of President Obama's policy choices that Europeans may be less happy with. Obama's is open to carbon capture and storage technology. In Europe it is seen as inefficient and a distraction from building up renewable energy sources. He will rely on expensive nuclear power technology. Obama will most likely also continue the Major Economies Meetings (also known as Major Emitters Meetings) that Bush used to derail climate negotiations.
Professor Miranda Schreurs of the Free University Berlin pointed out that Obama has so far shown a willingness to combine the problem of economic recovery with a readiness to combat climate change.
"He uses the current crisis as an opportunity. He demands that the car manufacturers of Detroit turn greener in exchange for continued support. But Europe should not only reach out to Washington. The state level is just as important. Massive initiatives are being carried out in the form of regional climate alliances. Industry interests will to try to block new climate legislation," she predicted, but hoped that "Obama's wish to modernize American infrastructure" would carry the day.
Helga Flores-Trejo, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Washington, said that even though Obama campaigned as a harbinger of change, he is actually a product of it. Change has already occurred, and he will benefit from it, especially in questions of climate and energy. This gives him a chance to create a transatlantic Green Deal. The challenge will be to show China and India that it also makes economic sense for them.
"Obama must show that those who walk this path are winners, not economic losers. To do this, he must build new alliances, with farmers, with labor unions and with business. His communication says he is ready to work for those long-term solutions. He wants to make the US a part of the solution instead of the problem. Right now people all over see Germany as a front-runner. Still, there are voices here that want to slow down. I find that incredible," Ms. Flores-Trejo concluded.
At this point comments and questions came from the audience, from people of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. An economic downturn is threatening the reforms already decided upon in California and, anyway, German renewable energy companies are not well represented in the US, so why would they profit from Obama's policies? And indeed, why should German corporations have their eyes fixed on what happens in the US, if they can expect greater revenues elsewhere, in India and China, for instance?
This, in the end, was the only flaw of the debate. There will be change in the US on climate change and economy, maybe even warranting the much-touted New Green Deal-moniker. But the surrounding political reality has also changed. Stopping climate change was never a deal between the US and the EU.
Markus Drake is an editor at Atlantic-community.org. He has worked for the Press Room of the European Parliament following climate change topics.
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- Strobe Talbott: America's Challenge: Combating Climate Change and Nuclear Proliferation
- Interview with Jackson Janes: Priorities for German-American Cooperation
- Jens F. Laurson & George A. Pieler: Too Much Political Meddling Will Only Prolong the Financial Crisis
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