Letter: We’re short-sighted on renewable energy – Post Bulletin

Analysis of U.S. Renewable Energy Policy and its Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Historical Context: Innovation vs. Manufacturing Leadership

An examination of the United States’ history with key technologies reveals a recurring pattern that impacts the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). This pattern involves pioneering new technologies but subsequently failing to establish domestic, large-scale manufacturing capabilities.

• Photovoltaic Technology: Invented at Bell Laboratories in the 1950s with federal support, the U.S. initially led in solar panel technology. However, China is now the dominant global manufacturer, indicating a failure to translate innovation into sustainable industrial production under SDG 9.
• Broader Technological Trend: This trend is not isolated to solar energy. Similar trajectories have been observed in sectors crucial for modern economies, including semiconductors, personal computers, smartphones, and LCD displays.

Current Policy Inconsistencies and Impact on SDG 7

Recent legislative actions present a challenge to achieving SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). While initial policies like the Inflation Reduction Act provided funding to support renewable energy sources, subsequent policy shifts have reportedly undermined this progress.

• Stalled Projects: Numerous solar, wind, and geothermal energy projects, which are essential for advancing SDG 7 and SDG 13 (Climate Action), have been stalled despite being near completion.
• Economic and Employment Impact: The halting of these projects curtails the creation of new jobs and slows economic growth in the green sector, directly conflicting with the objectives of SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

Fiscal Disparities and Contradiction of Sustainable Goals

A significant contradiction exists between stated environmental goals and current fiscal policy. The continued financial support for fossil fuels actively hinders the transition to sustainable energy systems as outlined in the SDGs.

• Fossil Fuel Subsidies: The U.S. government provides approximately $34.8 billion annually in subsidies for coal, oil, and gas production.
• Undermining Clean Energy: This substantial financial support for non-renewable sources starves emerging nuclear, solar, wind, and geothermal start-ups of critical funding, creating an imbalanced market that works against SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

Recommendations for Aligning Policy with SDGs

To effectively pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, a strategic realignment of national energy and industrial policy is required. The following actions are recommended:

1. Ensure Policy Stability: Legislators should create a stable and supportive policy environment for renewable energy to prevent the stalling of crucial projects, thereby securing progress towards SDG 7 and SDG 13.
2. Promote Domestic Manufacturing: Implement robust industrial policies that support the initial start-up and scaling of domestic manufacturing for renewable technologies. This will build resilient infrastructure and foster innovation as per SDG 9.
3. Realign Energy Subsidies: Redirect public funds from fossil fuel subsidies to the renewable energy sector. Achieving parity in financial support is essential for fostering a competitive market for clean energy and meeting the targets of SDG 7 and SDG 12.
4. Foster Public-Private Partnerships: Encourage legislative action that strengthens partnerships between the government and the private sector to accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy future, in line with SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy: The article’s central theme is the production of energy, specifically advocating for a shift from fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) to clean energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, and nuclear. It discusses funding, manufacturing, and policy related to these energy sectors.
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: The text highlights the U.S.’s role in inventing new technologies (photovoltaic cells) but failing to support the domestic manufacturing and industrial start-ups required to mass-produce them. It calls for investment in the infrastructure of new energy sectors.
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: The article directly addresses unsustainable production patterns by pointing out the massive subsidies given to fossil fuels (“$34.8 billion a year”) and calls for rationalizing these subsidies by redirecting funds to sustainable energy production.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The creation of “new jobs” through innovative renewable energy projects is mentioned as a key benefit that is being lost due to stalled projects, linking the energy transition to economic opportunities.
• SDG 13: Climate Action: Although the author states the transition is necessary regardless of beliefs about “human-caused climate change,” the entire discussion of shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy is a core strategy for climate action and is framed within national policy like the Inflation Reduction Act.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. The article’s primary call to action is to support and fund “solar, wind, and geothermal production” to make them a more significant piece of the nation’s energy future, directly aligning with this target.
2. Target 9.5: Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending. The article laments the U.S.’s failure to “support the initial start-up production of our own inventions” like solar panels, which speaks directly to the need for greater support for innovation and domestic technological capabilities.
3. Target 12.c: Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts. The article explicitly identifies the “$34.8 billion a year” in subsidies for “coal, oil, and gas production” as a problem and advocates for reallocating those funds, which is the exact action described in this target.
4. Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors. The article promotes investment in “new energy sectors” as a source of “new jobs” and “needed energy production,” which aligns with achieving economic growth through technological innovation in a high-value sector.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Indicator 12.c.1: Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies per unit of GDP (production and consumption). The article provides a direct data point for this indicator by stating that the U.S. subsidizes “coal, oil, and gas production to the tune of $34.8 billion a year.” This figure can be used to measure the scale of these subsidies.
2. Indicator 7.2.1: Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption. This indicator is implied. The author’s call to increase “solar, wind, and nuclear energy production” as a “needed piece of our future” is a call to increase the share of renewables in the national energy mix. Progress would be measured by the growth of this share.
3. Indicator 9.2.1: Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita. This is implied in the comparison between the U.S. and China. The statement that the U.S. invents technologies while “China is the world’s manufacturing leader of solar panels today” points to a disparity in manufacturing output and value added in this key technology sector.
4. Number of jobs in the renewable energy sector. This is an implied indicator. The article mentions that stalled projects “were on their way to providing new jobs,” suggesting that the number of jobs created in the solar, wind, and geothermal sectors is a key measure of the success and impact of supporting these industries.

Summary Table

4. SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: postbulletin.com