Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
wind power in China and the United States provides perhaps the strongest
support for the contention that national interests trump international pres-
sures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In both nations, wind power
difusion was negligible until the cost of wind power started to drop, the
cost of fossil fuel energy began to rise and promising wind power manu-
facturing industries began to emerge. hen national interests and interna-
tional GHG abatement pressures converged, and wind power development
took of in both nations.
Another factor that inluences whether or not nations succumb to inter-
national pressure to abate CO
2
emissions is the perceived level of economic
damage caused by such a transition. Globally, the mantra of many develop-
ing nations is that committing to binding emission reduction targets will
adversely afect economic development and this is unacceptable. Many of
the industrialized nations have echoed similar concerns. he industrialized
nations that have been most vociferous sport the worst GHG emission reduc-
tion track records. Indeed, the challenge of meeting GHG reduction targets
is viewed as so daunting in both Japan and Canada that these two nations
have declared an intention to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol framework.
he main lesson for wind power advocates is that wind power develop-
ment policy will not be successful if it is promoted solely as a way to con-
tribute to goals established by the international community. his is not
suicient motivation for many of the stakeholders that inluence domes-
tic energy policy. Rather, wind power development must be promoted as a
commercially prudent investment in an era of inlated fossil fuel prices, an
avenue for job creation and a vehicle for enhancing national energy security
by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel supplies. National interests
trump international pressures.
10.5.6 Political Factor 6: Historic Trends in Public Energy R&D
All of the case studies provide evidence that the technological platforms to
which governments have directed R&D investments in the past catalyze
political lock in favor of the technologies that have been favored. Research
suggests that there are sound reasons for this. Government funding for
energy technology R&D tends to follow an ideological undercurrent driven
by powerful advocacy coalitions that possess core ideologies which align
with a speciic technology.
Changing the core values of long standing regimes is not easy and will
likely not materialize from within the regime.
30
Politically, policy reversals
tend to send negative messages to voters that the policymakers lack strategic
