These days it's hard to look beyond the U.S. economic environment and focus on other pertinent issues. The mainstream media reports on almost nothing else. My personal situation has changed little except for the value of my retirement account. Nevertheless, I worry about my finances and feel like I should change my lifestyle and spending habits. It is precisely this thinking that has exacerbated the nation's economic crises. The gloomy reports and predictions that this “worst recession in the country's history” will be slow to turn around have created fear in even the most optimistic.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released March 16 indicates that 36 percent of the 1,019 people questioned said unemployment is the most important economic issue facing the nation. Inflation came second at 20 percent, followed by the mortgage crisis at 16 percent, the stock market at 14 percent and taxes at 11 percent. Energy and the environment, which often topped these types of lists just months ago, were nowhere to be found.
According to Ralph Izzo, PSE&G's chairman, president and CEO who spoke in February at CERA-Week, climate change has fallen to the bottom of the list of concerns for the U.S. public.
Does this mean no one cares anymore about the polar bears' plight? Can we quit working on costly carbon capture and sequestration technologies? What about the cost of energy? Is that no longer a concern for most Americans? I don't think the answer to any of these questions is “yes.” At this time, these issues aren't as important to the public as they once were. You can be sure that someday they will become important again.
For those in the industry, these issues remain important and will continue to be, even when other things concern the public. This issue of Electric Light & Power magazine includes several articles that address the industry's major concerns.
Dan Watkiss, our regular “Taking It Into Account” columnist, gives his opinion about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and how it will affect the grid. Tanya Bodell, CRA International vice president, authored an article about the uncertainties surrounding clean-coal technologies and policies, as well as carbon price. In addition, for the Industry Report, Associate Editor Kristen Wright spoke to several industry experts to get their takes on the new administration and how it will influence and direct the power industry. You'll definitely want to read this piece.
Since Kristen wrote the article, representatives of the current administration have made a couple of interesting announcements. During a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that Yucca Mountain is no longer an option for storing the nation's nuclear waste. When asked if scrapping the Yucca Mountain project was also the opinion of the president, Chu responded in the affirmative. President Barack Obama's budget proposal cuts almost all federal funding for the project. With capital costs already a concern for an anticipated nuclear renaissance, the announcement will slow things even more.
Another policy announcement came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA proposed a first-of-a-kind mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG)-reporting program. Although the rule does not require emissions reductions, it establishes reporting protocols for almost 90 percent of the nation's GHG-emitting entities. It requires companies to begin collecting emissions data Jan. 1, 2010, and to file the first report by March 31, 2011. Many see this policy as a step in creating a federal GHG cap-and-trade program. While adhering to such a policy might prove difficult for some utilities, anything that moves us closer to a cap-and-trade program should mitigate some of the uncertainty surrounding coal's future, and that's a good thing.
The articles in this magazine and reports from Washington, D.C., prove that energy and environmental issues are alive. Although other concerns overshadow them now, energy and the environment will become important to the public again. Until then, we will do our best to keep you informed about the issues that top your list.
Teresa Hansen, editor in chief