Former Irish president: U.S. obligated to honor sustainability agreements

By Brice Wallace

The United States could put its world standing in jeopardy if it does not honor energy-sustainability agreements and if it lets other countries move ahead in renewable energy technology development.

Those sentiments were expressed recently by Mary Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland, in Ogden for the Intermountain Sustainability Summit at Weber State University. Robinson, an admitted late-comer to climate change, said the U.S. has agreed to the terms of the Paris Agreement forged in 2015 regarding greenhouse gas emission mitigation and it must fulfill those commitments and others related to improving climate.

“I think that the rest of the world will not stand idly by and let this happen,” she said of any backtracking by the U.S. “It will call out the United States as being unfair, as being a kind of rogue state on climate because it’s not fulfilling its obligations. And, reputationally, it would be very bad for the United States.”

In certain parts of the world, she said, she hears questions about which nation the world should look to for climate leadership. Some wonder if it should be China or perhaps the European Union, if not the U.S.

For example, the U.S. has had great innovation related to battery development, “and yet, China is likely to be the world leader on electric cars,” Robinson said. “It’s already the world leader on solar energy and wind energy — the biggest producer of them. Is the United States going to let it be the world leader on electric cars, instead of moving in that direction as rapidly as possible, because that is where the jobs will be?”

Robinson said that while President Trump’s budget proposal contains elements that could put the U.S. behind other countries in addressing climate change, lots of great work is being done in states and cities related to renewable energy and technology innovation.

“We need to make this visible and talk about it so that people see,” she said. “It’s a battle for the minds and hearts and, of course, it’s a battle we can’t lose because it’s the future that we need to move to and need to move to rapidly, in jobs and opportunities. It shouldn’t be China that becomes the world leader in this area. It should be the United States and countries that are prepared to do that.”

Robinson said renewable energy can help developing countries get the opportunities to grow their economies, and climate supporters need to find ways to make renewable energy affordable, reasonable and practical for them.

“We have an agenda that calls for the opposite, frankly — and I’m going to say this very openly — the opposite of a mantra of ‘Make America Great Again.’ The opposite of that. It’s to make the world sustainable through the solidarity of all countries working together. That’s what we need. … The solidarity is more needed because, yes, the developed world needs to do more to cut emissions … but it’s more difficult for developing countries because what we’re asking them to do, in essence, is to develop without emissions, but no country built up its economy without emissions.”

Robinson made other references to Trump without mentioning him by name. One example: “It is regrettable for anybody who understands the existential threat of climate change that, at the federal level, you do not appear to have the right leadership at the moment. Let’s just be clear about that.” That comment drew strong applause.

She was asked by an audience member about how to discuss climate change issues with politicians who do not believe climate change is real. Her answer: “Confront them with the science.”

“We have to stay true to the science, and the fact that there are very significant financial forces trying to muddy the science, trying to mess it up, doesn’t help. And it’s a bit like the problem we had in the tobacco industry a few years ago. We have that problem in the fossil fuel industry. It’s prepared to fund bad science in order to muddy the picture,” she said.

Even without strong support at the federal level, the United States needs to show the world it has leadership that its states, cities, universities and philanthropic and civic organizations are doing great work to address climate issues in practical ways, she stressed. Salt Lake City’s commitment to transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2032 is “good” and “ambitious,” she said, adding that few people inside or outside the U.S. know about such initiatives.

“It’s the cities that are the key to this because they will represent so much of the population and the emissions of the population, that it is possible for the United States to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement even if, at the federal level, it’s showing no interest in doing so,” she said.

Robinson also addressed a need to help workers in industries that will be affected by climate-change measures.

“We do need to have a real empathy for those who are in components of what built this country — the coal industry and increasing the oil and gas industry — who are going to be left behind, already feel very left behind, don’t have any sense that there’s a just transition for them, and that is something that is a real gap,” she said.

“We have to work at a just transition for those who have built up the economy of the country and who feel left behind. Those are the Rust Belt states and who were so angry during the last election, and, unfortunately, I think that anger was availed of in a populist way to gain electoral support.”