Veranstaltungsberichte
When future generations do not have an advocate in government, policy decisions can be shortsighted. Dr. Krings’ quoted his fellow home-town Mönchengladbach philosopher, Hans Jonas, who had identified this political dilemma in his book “The Imperative of Responsibility” in 1979: “But the future is not represented, it is not a force that can throw its weight into the scales. The non-existent has no lobby, and the unborn are powerless.” To address this specific deficiency the German Parliament established the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development .
In Dr. Krings’ opinion conservation of energy and sustainable energy development are strongly embedded in a conservative political framework. Many of the conservative constituents in Germany have historically embraced traditional rural values, where family farmers managed the land with their childrens’ children in mind. Other typical conservative constituents embrace energy conservation for the same reason. Dr. Krings reminded his American listeners that energy conservation can be both economically and fiscally sensible and that more creative thinking is needed to promote sensible energy policy with the future in mind.
The German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel has adopted policies to promote renewable energy and to abandon nuclear energy completely by 2022. Dr. Krings also reminded the audience that the Conservative-led German government intends to increase the relative share of renewable energy in gross energy consumption from today’s 11.3% to 35% by 2020 and 60% by 2050.
Dr. Krings emphasized that, in paving the way to Rio 2012 on sustainable development, governments can create incentives to encourage the corporate world to think long-term and make sustainability part of their business strategy, just like family-run businesses have done for generations. As just one example, he mentioned the “German Sustainability Award” created in 2008 to encourage companies to operate sustainably on a voluntary basis. More efforts like this need to be initiated around the world.
Before opening the discussion to questions and answers, Michael Mehling, President of Ecologic Institute in Washington, DC, offered several objective and factual comparisons of German and American energy development over the past 40 years. Although the United States was at the forefront of energy and environmental policies in the 70’s, something occurred to create a significant disparity in the interpretation and implementation of energy policy in the two countries. According to Michael Mehling, one cannot point to any one particular incident or explanation but rather a series of incremental policy changes that led to large differences between the United States and Germany. However, a driving factor in changing German energy behavior was the taxation of energy and such taxes were, and still are, consistently higher than in the United States. Mr. Mehling also correctly pointed out that the higher energy taxes were not motivated by environmental concerns but rather for raising revenue.
A lively discussion took place among the American participants who represented a divergence in beliefs about the role governments ought to play in the fight for energy independence. An energy expert from the Heritage Foundation defended the position that innovation will provide the necessary progress to thrust energy supply into a new era. A former Congressman expressed that a need for stronger and better harmony in regulations is essential for a successful energy future. This would provide the necessary framework for more innovation and lead to more productivity. At the same time, he argued that by building an international consensus of the concept sustainability, pressure would increase to develop programs around energy independence. The former Congressman concluded with advice that the American political system is more responsive to outside pressure when relevant committees are addressed.
In his concluding remarks Dr. Krings noted how inexpensive construction of Chinese manufacturing has led to the bankruptcy of several German industries. Therefore, he emphasized, that innovation alone is not the answer but that international standards in energy sustainability are essential for the future.
