Climate Summit Opens in Wyoming |
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Oct. 9, 2007 -- Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Monday urged the federal government to invest in carbon capture and sequestration as it has in other research areas. He was keynote speaker during a University of Wyoming-sponsored summit "Finding the Balance: Energy and Climate" in Teton Village, Wyo.
Freudenthal said the government should invest in these areas much as it did in the space program in the 1960s and 1970s. Taking carbon from the air is one of the proposals being considered, but there are many unknowns.
"It's not inappropriate to consider," he said. "If we do this right, the costs can be borne. A rational federal policy can supplement state policy. We have the (UW) School of Energy Resources and other things, but they are not going to work as well if there is no rational federal policy," Freudenthal said.
University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan opened the summit by summing up the work of conference experts who are striving to develop recommendations for policy makers dealing with climate change and energy development.
"Our task is straightforward: recognizing our scientific shortcomings and questioning our prognostications while preserving flexibility for future generations," Buchanan said.
The summit, which has brought together prominent experts from a range of disciplines, continues today (Tuesday) and Wednesday with presentations and panel discussions on topics ranging from what scientists know and don't know about climate change to the risks and benefits of carbon trading.
Wyoming plays a large role in all of these discussions because of the breadth and availability of energy sources in the state, including vast reserves of coal, which is the primary fuel in making electricity. Burning coal, however, is also a source of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas.
Lord Ron Oxburgh, former non-executive chairman of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and former head of the Department of Earth Sciences who also served as president at Queens' College, among other posts, said he has watched the infighting that has developed among developers of different kinds of energy -- solar versus wind, for example -- as they jockey for primacy, and he dismisses these conflicts.
"Tackling climate change is a major challenge. Every source of energy is going to be needed. None will put the others out of business. And fossil fuels will be needed for at least the next 50 years," Oxburgh said. "Time is not on our side."
Even as those topics are debated, Buchanan highlighted the balance that must be struck: "The greatest costs are unlikely to be felt in our lifetimes."
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Gov. Dave Freudenthal speaks at a University of Wyoming-sponsored summit on "Finding the Balance: Energy and Climate" as UW President Tom Buchanan looks on. Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007
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