Sorry, Secretary Jewell, It’s You Who’s Naïve
In dismissing the Keep It in the Ground movement, Interior chief denies the urgency to transition away from fossil fuels
This op-ed was first published May 23, 2016, in The Hill.
I was deeply disturbed to read about Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s recent dismissal of the growing national movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change as “naïve.” And that, as a nation dependent on fossil fuels, it is “naïve” to think we can shift to 100 percent renewable energy. As Interior Secretary, Jewell is a key decision maker responsible for the fate of publicly owned, federally managed coal, oil and gas and the 450 billion tons of potential greenhouse gas emissions they hold and her refusal to act is making things worse.
Naïve is believing we can curb the climate crisis through half-measures and happy talk. Naïve is hoping that continuing to do business as usual with the fossil fuel industry gets us anywhere close to what’s necessary. Naïve is ignoring the overwhelming advice of scientists who say we must act now — in a very big way — to avoid the worst effects of this crisis by keeping up to 80 percent of known fossil fuel reserves safely in the ground.
Recently, while at a Washington, D.C., reception, I was talking with Secretary Jewell about oil and gas fracking on America’s public lands. When I raised the necessity of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, Jewell looked at me and in a gotcha kind of way and asked me whether I drove a car? It’s pretty disconcerting when the Secretary of Interior is using the exact same talking point as the Western Energy Alliance, which supports increased drilling and fracking, whose representative I debated on a panel a few months back at the Tulane School of Law conference.
I drive a used plug-in Prius hybrid powered in large part by the solar panels on my roof in D.C. Jewell repeats time and again that we are a nation “dependent” on fossil fuels and the transition to a “blend” of fossil fuel and renewable energy will take time because, as Jewell explained last week, it is “complex.”
Unfortunately, climate change won’t wait for Sally Jewell or the fossil fuel industry to be “ready” to transition. In order to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change and meet the commitment by the U.S. and other countries to de-carbonize the global economy over the course of this century, the world needs to be largely powered by renewable energy in as little as three decades.
With the cost of solar power now comparable to fossil fuels, is it naïve to think that we can rapidly transition to renewable energy? Not according to many experts. For example, a 2015 study presented a national road map for powering each of the 50 U.S. states’ electricity, transportation, heating/cooling and industry sectors with solar, wind and water energy. The study found that by 2030, renewables can power 80 percent to 85 percent of our energy needs and by 2050 we can be fully powered by the sun, wind and water. Doing so would also create far more jobs than those lost in the declining fossil fuel sector.
To call the growing movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground “naïve” is cynical denial. Denial that the age of fossil fuel dependence is and must come to an end to help the world cope with droughts, floods, food insecurity and extreme sea level rise of runaway climate change. Denial that future growth and prosperity can be powered by clean renewable energy that will also protect our air quality, public health, lands, oceans and wildlife. Denial of the fact that ending leasing of federal fossil fuels will make a significant contribution to limiting our greenhouse emissions. We already have decades worth of oil, coal and gas under lease. We do not need to lease more. Doing so will contribute significantly to fighting climate change. It’s time for Jewell to get on board.
Randi Spivak is director of the Public Lands program at the Center for Biological Diversity.
