Words of Wisdom

Kristin Smith

On a recent trip to Sweden, President Obama met with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfelt to discuss a myriad of issues, including climate change. During a press conference, the president was asked what the United States could learn from Sweden. His response probably doesn’t come as a surprise to readers of Renewable Energy from Waste:

“What I know about Sweden, I think, offers us some good lessons. No. 1, the work you have done on energy I think is something the United States can and will learn from because every country in the world right now has to recognize if we are going to continue to grow and improve our standard of living while maintaining a sustainable planet, we are going to have to change our patterns of energy use. And Sweden, I think, is far ahead of many other countries.”

In his column titled “The U.S. Can Learn from Sweden” in the January/February issue of REW (www.rewmag.com/rew0213-sweden-waste-leader.aspx), Harvey Gershman, president of Gershman, Brickner & Bratton (GBB), Fairfax, Va., concurs with Obama. He explains why Sweden is a leader in solid waste management and renewable energy. National policies in Sweden, such as landfill and carbon taxes combined with renewable portfolio standards and tax credits, have created an environment supportive of waste-to-energy (WTE), Gershman contends.

In June, the president unveiled his “Climate Action Plan” to counter climate change. One area of the plan details efforts the administration is taking to reduce carbon emissions, which, according to the plan, reached new 20-year lows in 2012.

Promoting American leadership in renewable energy is one way outlined in the plan to reduce carbon emissions. Obama is seeking to double the country’s renewable electricity generation by 2020. The Department of the Interior issued 10 gigawatts of renewables on public lands in 2012, and Obama has directed 10 gigawatts more be permitted by 2020. The Department of Defense, the largest consumer of energy in the U.S., is committed to deploying 3 gigawatts of renewable energy on military installations. Furthermore, the fiscal year 2014 budget increased funding for clean energy technology across all agencies by 30 percent, or $7.9 billion. This includes funding for biofuels.

The availability of coal, oil and gas and landfill space in the U.S. does make changing to a more renewable model less of a necessity than in European countries such as Sweden, which imports all of its oil and landfills only 1 percent of its municipal solid waste. But our president has taken notice of what Sweden has done and has committed to beginning the very arduous task of changing the way Americans think about energy production and consumption.