Policy for a Low-Carbon Future Scott Victor Valentine Marilyn A. Brown Benjamin K. Sovacool
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Preface
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ities, companies, and citizens across the globe are strengthening their commitment to sustainable practices and are considering alternatives to carbon-intensive and resourceabusive development pathways. Hotter summers, rising sea levels, forest fires, and climate extremes are beginning to persuade even recalcitrant onlookers that something is amiss. Success requires a transition in how we produce and consume energy, because the global reliance on fossil fuels has been one of the biggest—if not THE biggest—cause of pollution and environmental degradation in the world. Fortuitously, low-carbon renewable energy systems have advanced remarkably and are more affordable than ever, and radical solutions for improving energy efficiency are now costcompetitive. But there are forces that resist change; their influence has made most governments unwilling to put a premium on the price of fossil fuels to reflect the human health and environmental damages they are causing. As a result, new policies and new business models are needed to mobilize and accelerate the clean energy transition.
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Preface
Empowering the Great Energy Transition argues that a transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources is inevitable. It offers ways to expedite the transition, buoyed by a decade of technology breakthroughs. At the same time, the book places issues of energy and climate justice front and center. A focus on equity is particularly important when public resources are being deployed or when vulnerable groups are affected. Empowering the Great Energy Transition takes up these themes and more. Readers will be taken on a journey through the energy world as it is today; they will explore the numerous barriers to change and learn about the many developments that give us reason for optimism. With just a few adjustments, we can set humanity on a course to a new energy future that empowers entrepreneurs and communities, inspires innovation, and mitigates the damages caused by conventional energy technologies that have served their purpose. We describe the achievable steps that citizens, organizational leaders, and policymakers can take to put their commitments to sustainability into practice. Empowering the Great Energy Transition shows that, with just a few adjustments, we can set humanity on a course that motivates and supports entrepreneurs and communities that seek a cleaner energy future. In sum, this book: • •
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Is written by authors who together have produced over thirty books on energy and who are recognized experts in the field. Begins with a strong and surprising assertion, supported by ten key market trends, that indicates that a transition away from carbonintensive energy technologies is unavoidable. Clarifies where the uncertainties of climate science lie and why these uncertainties impede market evolution. Provides a politically infused assessment of the obstacles that are slowing a low-carbon energy transition. Concludes with specific prescriptions to consumers, organizational leaders, and policymakers on how they can make a difference.
Praise for
EMPOWERING THE GREAT ENERGY TRANSITION “Scott Victor Valentine, Marilyn A. Brown, and Benjamin K. Sovacool offer an erudite, sobering, and compelling analysis of the challenges, tradeoffs, and opportunities involved in transitioning to renewable energy. Writing in prose accessible to experts and laypersons alike, they adroitly integrate a multidisciplinary body of research to make a full-throated case for an energy reset. Readers may or may not agree with their arguments, but they cannot ignore the data and strategic analysis the authors provide to explain and address the often halting and mostly patchworked progress made so far.”
Robert F. Durant, coeditor of Environmental Governance Reconsidered: Challenges, Choices, and Opportunities “Valentine, Brown, and Sovacool thoughtfully survey the future of energy—one of the world’s most important geopolitical, economic, environmental, and technological issues. They open windows into the academic literatures and deftly draw out the practical implications for individuals, organizations, and government policy makers who want to have an impact.”
David Victor, professor and codirector, Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, University of California at San Diego
“Valentine, Brown, and Sovacool have brought their wealth of knowledge and experience to the most important topic of this critical time. Empowering the Great Energy Transition underscores the urgency of kicking our addiction to carbon-based fuels. It tells us not just why we should do it, but how we can do it. This is a book that lays out with compelling detail, breadth, and logic the necessary energy policies to achieve a low-carbon future that can save our children, our grandchildren, and ourselves. Among the many books on energy transition, this eclipses them all.”
Martin J. Pasqualetti, Arizona State University ISBN: 978-0-231-18596-7
Columbia University Press | New York
cup.columbia.edu