Transitioning to cleaner energy. Assessment of the impacts of energy choices and communication tools and strategies for scientists, general public and policymakers

Background/Question/Methods Transitioning to clean energy presents a host of challenges, from technical feasibility to environmental sustainability to up-front costs in an economically difficult time.  Complicating the transition is the fact that many citizens and policymakers are unaware or distrustful of the for reasons change and/or don’t believe there is compelling motivation to do so.  At a time when energy policy choices have become highly politicized and partisan, it can be difficult to have rational discussions on whether, how, and how completely a transition to clean energy should happen. Yet some early but significant progress is being made at the state and regional level on clean energy adoption over the past decade, and there are even signs of progress more recently at the federal level.  What can we learn from the early adopters and what are the best strategies to approach and overcome these challenges? What role can and should scientists in strategies to move forward?  Can better environmental literacy help with the transition?

Results/Conclusions

This presentation will take an in-depth look at how adoption of low-carbon policies in transportation and renewable energy sectors were achieved in California and elsewhere between 2002 and 2012.  Successful clean energy policies and programs have used a combination of demonstrated feasibility and clear, convincing information on the benefits of transition with organized deployment of informed citizen pressure from diverse communities and stakeholders, along with clearly rendered supporting data from scientific and technical experts. Educating political and policy leadership has also been key, as has been the presence of committed capital investment and job potential for clean technologies. However, technologies that may compete with existing environmental policy priorities, as has been the case with certain low-carbon biofuels and some waste-to-energy technologies, have met with significant resistance and have not been as successful to date. Other technologies, such as hydrogen and cellulosic fuels, have been over-sold before they were ready to be produced at scale.   Finally, local and site-specific factors are highly important in how particular clean energy projects fare in terms of public acceptance and successful completion.