Chamber executive calls for diverse energy mix

September 21, 2011

Bakersfield Californian

John Cox

A U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive knew she was preaching to the choir Tuesday when she told a Bakersfield audience that the country needs to support the broadest possible array of energy sources to meet the challenges of the next quarter century.

Praising Kern County's oil and gas leadership alongside local investment in solar and wind technology, the president and CEO of the chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy, Karen Harbert, said the nation would do well to "copycat (the Bakersfield area) around the country."

But there's always more work to be done, and to Bakersfield she delegated the task of telling lawmakers and voters the value of continuing to support energy efficiency, science education, diverse technologies and a sensible approach to regulation that will keep the country a competitive destination for energy investment.

The stakes are high, Harbert said at the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce's 2011 Energy Luncheon Forum. The United States will need 21 percent more energy in 2035 than it had in 2009, she said.

Meeting that need will likely require everything from fuel made from oil and natural gas to electricity from nuclear power and coal, she said. Renewables like wind and solar certainly are part of that, she said, but "we just have to be realistic" because such sources still make up only about 2 percent of the nation's energy portfolio.

The biggest hurdles to be overcome are a "tsunami" of proposed regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she said, and opposition from people who, for a variety of reasons, don't want new energy facilities built.

While Harbert called on everyone in the audience to contact lawmakers to encourage a broad and unfettered mix of energy investment, her emphasis was clearly on encouraging people in the industry to lobby and lobby hard.

"We have gotten ourselves into this," she said. "The only way out is for the business community to lead."

As Harbert was concluding her remarks, Brett Fiorini, a cost reduction consultant with PacificEnerPower in Bakersfield, called the speaker's message "balanced and fair."

"I think the issues are more relevant than ever," he said.

Among Harbert's audience were students of Independence High School's Energy and Utilities Academy. Several said they agreed with her message.

"It made us reevaluate really what's going on and what we think of the way we use our energy," junior Abigail Mejia said.

Senior Wendi Wu said Harbert was right to look to traditional energy sources as a way to transition to renewables.

"With the older energy sources," she said, "the infrastructure's already there."

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