Hillary Clinton speaking at a rally in support of Barack Obama, Horsham, PA (Photo credit:... [+]
Tonight’s presidential debate will focus mostly on the Middle Eastern conflicts. But the candidates should take the time to discuss where nations are cooperating. One such place is the developing world where nation-states are joining to deliver electricity to those 1.3 billion people who are now going without any power.
To that end, the foundation of any economy is the ability to access reliable energy so that goods and services can be produced and transported. And while the two major U.S. presidential candidates are focused on high gasoline prices and which fuel types should lead us into the future, those in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia lack such basic necessities.
Just how do the less fortunate stay warm in the winter and feed their livelihoods? Firewood, charcoal and kerosene -- energy sources that are dirty and unhealthy. For its part, the Obama administration is part of the Global Alliance Initiative, which is a public-private partnership that, among other things, seeks to improve indoor air quality and to reduce carbon emissions. Its not grandiose but its a measure that helps by giving $2.5 million to the cause.
"Nearly 3 billion people – that’s almost half the world’s population – don’t have access to modern cooking technology. They just have fires, often inside their homes, which cause toxic air pollution, killing nearly 2 million people – mostly women and children – every year,” says Hillary Clinton, in her Energy Diplomacy in the 21st Century just given at Georgetown University.
The premise behind the initiative, Clinton explains, is not just to improve basic cooking tools. It’s more generally to spread the technology innovations that are giving those in the richer countries better lives -- things that sound simple but include connecting infrastructures so that those with an excess supply of energy can provide power to those without. It’s about ending energy poverty for those 1.3 billion who have no access at all to electricity.
Along those lines, the United Nations has launched the Sustainable Energy for All program that has a lofty goal of providing universal energy access by 2030. It also aims to double the use of both energy efficiency tools and renewable energy fuels during the same time period. Private companies, along with governments and development agencies, have given $50 billion this year to the effort.
Most of those without electricity are in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where power generation is about a tenth of where it is in other poor areas. Other regions without power include swaths of Latin America and the Philippines. Despite the noble efforts and based on current population trends, 1.2 billion -- or 15 percent of the world's population -- will still lack such access in 2030.
“I don’t think that we can bring a level playing field to lots of developing nations without access to the internet and that depends on electricity,” says Juergen Grossman, chief executive of RWE AG, at a UN conference.
Beyond improving human lives and the environment, public-private partnerships will create meaningful jobs for local populations. To get there, both the UN and global lending institutions such as the World Bank are saying that they will place more emphasis on green technologies than on fossil fuels, which will still remain part of its tool box and loan portfolio.
Consider: An 86-kilowatt hydroelectric station in Argentina will provide power to a tiny rural community there while a wind and diesel hybrid system of the same size will supply another village. Both communities now make do with inadequate and polluting diesel generators that operate sporadically, the UN says.
Meantime, Secretary of State Clinton is pointing to a new power plant in Haiti that is the building block for a new sewing machine factory and a Korean apparel company there. Other offices and factories are now sprouting up. While Clinton says that the United States and its partners are committed to increasing the use of green energy, she is providing leeway to all countries, noting each is keenly aware of its capacities and limitations.
The global community has a role in helping to get the developing world on its feet. Countries that are growing economically not only can maintain peace within their borders but they are also positioned to import goods and services from abroad. It’s an investment that will potentially build both goodwill and good fortunes.
President Obama and Mitt Romney will spend most of their time tonight discussing the world’s hot spots. But they should take time to note the relative prosperity that American citizens are enjoying and the obligation that its people have to helping end energy poverty around the world.
