I know I’m not alone in feeling growing anxiety about the changes to the natural world I’ve seen in my lifetime, or in my rising concern as I flip through the newspaper and think that America could be left behind in the accelerating race to a clean energy global economy. But I’ve also seen vivid proof that America can turn action on climate change into American jobs.

For all these reasons, and like millions of Americans, I was relieved and moved to hear President Obama commit to “respond to the threat of climate change” in his second inaugural address and to do so to preserve both America’s unique natural heritage, and our economic promise for our children.

In a  statement on Inauguration Day, NWF saw renewed hope for a secure climate future and underscored the broad public support to confront the urgent climate challenges that face all Americans.

Gov. Granholm at the Department of Energy Saturday.  Photo:  DOE

But for starters, here’s a hot-off-the-presses proposal that gives citizens of every state something to chew on (and a stake in the clean energy economy):

At an Inauguration weekend event at the Department of Energy,  I was happy to get a chance to hear former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm outline a Clean Energy Jobs Race to the Top that would spur states and regions to take advantage of their unique strengths to build in-state jobs and forge state and national energy leadership.

Here’s how it would work

One example of what responding to climate change looks like today. Building more fuel efficient cars and trucks in Kentucky. Photo: Sam Varnhagen, Ford Motor Co.

• Targeting industry clusters and opportunities for competitive advantage;
• Strong business and education partnerships;
• Approaches that spur supply and demand for new energy and technology;
• Partnering regionally; and
• More jobs created

How big is the upside to state action? Big. Take a look at these recent reports that outline the state-by-state and region-by-region benefits of deploying offshore windproduction, or modernizing our electric grid, building advanced vehicles, developing solar power or restoring the Gulf.

Full video of the DOE inaugural event is here, and provides a plenty to spur discussion of the specifics of  the Clean Energy Jobs Race to the Top  and other promising ways to meet our climate and energy challenges.  But whether you care most about jobs and  manufacturing, healthy families and communities, education and innovation, or wildlife and our natural heritage, there’s no doubt that states — in partnership with communities and the federal government — have a powerful opportunity to lead the way into a prosperous clean energy and climate smart future.

Ask your elected leaders and local organizations what they’re doing to respond to climate change and bring clean energy jobs to your neighborhood. You can make an #energypledge about what you plan to do to respond to climate change or meet our energy challenges, or a #GreenWish about what you’d like to see for the environment, wildlife, climate or energy in the year to come.

My colleague Joe blogged last week on three big reasons why climate will move to the top of the agenda as we close out the year and move into the next Congress.  His reasons show how naysaying and looking backwards is proving costly and damaging both for communities and at the ballot box:

1. Climate change impacts are costing the Federal Government  too much money (and people too much hardship)
2. Big Oil and King Coal’s money play was a costly failure
3. Poll after poll  shows the public increasingly wants action on climate change (even before Sandy…)

I’d add a fourth reason which shows that when America moves forcefully to act on climate change  it works:

Workers build the more efficient next generation Jeep Grand Cherokee at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant. Photo: DrivingGrowth.org

4. Major U.S.  actions to address climate change delivered big on jobs in communities across the country and big on votes on election day

Over the past two years, while talking about climate was seen as controversial, the administration, U.S. companies and American workers nonetheless took major action to cut the carbon pollution that causes climate change—most notably a huge transformation of our auto sector to build far more efficient and less carbon-polluting cars and trucks, as well as major new investments in clean electric power.

These clean energy and advanced vehicle policies and investments were also attacked throughout the campaign—and the success of the auto recovery in particular became a central issue in the election. But when the votes were tallied Tuesday, the verdict was clear: support for the real jobs benefits of the auto industry revival had been pivotal in Ohio and Michigan, and likely influential in other states. Last minute misinformation on Jeep backfired in states that had seen billions in investment and tens of thousands jobs built in the last two years.  And auto wasn’t alone.  Articles last week argued that attacks on the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) may have affected the outcome in Iowa, where a boom in large scale wind energy generation and wind energy manufacturing is also driving economic growth.

When push came to shove (and there was alot of pushing and shoving) voters in swing states across the country stood up for the lasting jobs they could see coming back in their own neighborhoods and the clear evidence that America can innovate and lead in a 21st Century economy.

As I’ve blogged before, this is what action on climate change looks like in real life.  New jobs and great cars from a resurgent and globally competitive auto industry prove handily that American companies, workers, and communities have what it takes to meet this challenge and rebuild our economy at the same time.

Even better, looking forward, the auto and election results also suggest there is economic and political momentum behind a strategy that would rebuild the nation’s economy and rebuild communities from threats like Sandy through policies that drive investment in the energy and infrastructure of the future.

After decades of crisis in the auto industry, the current revival results from a combination of:

• Major public and private reinvestment in manufacturing the most advanced vehicle technology in America, and;
• Strong fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas regulations that ensured the industry would not waste that investment rebuilding for the past, but innovate and invest for the future and for global markets.  (To see how these policies worked together to build jobs go here, here or here or hear directly from workers here, here or here.)

The climate benefits of these new efficient cars are no small potatoes—the industry will cut the carbon pollution from its new cars in half by 2025, and cut total U.S. carbon emissions by nearly 10 percent. And those pollution savings come by way of using much, much less fuel which means big savings for consumers and big increases in energy security. And it is this win-win-win on jobs, family pocketbooks, and security that works so powerfully for the economy and translates into votes.

Every industry is different, but it is a mistake to see the auto industry story as unique.  Instead it should be seen as a powerful case study—relevant in many particulars to the building, transportation infrastructure, and utility sectors, just to name a few.  It urges the following:

• Effective climate/ energy/ efficiency standards are essential to make innovation the norm, not the exception.  They ensure a broad domestic market for innovation, and relevance in global ones.
• Reinvestment in American skills, manufacturing and infrastructure is critical to grow jobs at home, to provide positive transition opportunities, and is also essential to compete globally
• Go big and concrete, so that at the end of the day we can all point to new clean and efficient products and infrastructure that deliver real quality of life and economic benefits to us every day. And make those actions sufficient to head off  the looming resource and climate crisis facing our children and  already lapping at our doors.

Over the past three years, amidst widespread acrimony, climate naysaying, and government bashing, the public and private sectors nonetheless worked together to revitalize a key sector of the economy, bring back hundreds of thousands of jobs, adopt state-of-the-art clean energy, transportation and efficiency technology, and take the biggest steps we’ve ever taken to cut carbon pollution and reduce our oil dependence.

Lets keep up the good work, keep acting on climate change,  and maybe go a little lighter on all that talk radio.

But for those who are still unconvinced by the ‘he-said-she-said,’there is an even better way to get the real picture of what’s going on in the manufacturing heartland: just follow the money.

Building the Jeep Grand Cherokee at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit. In addition to adding 1100 jobs at its Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio, Chrysler has added over 1000 jobs at the Detroit facility. Photo: DrivingGrowth.com

So what’s in question isn’t just the (at best) politically expedient use of an oddly worded Bloomberg news story about how a resurgent Chrysler was seeking to add production in China for the Chinese market. It’s the implicit rejection of a huge, successful, clean-technology investment, innovation, and manufacturing commitment by American companies and workers, and yes, by states and federal government.  Not only did this policy, investment, and hard work by thousands of Americans prove to be economically successful (the auto industry has added nearly a quarter of a million jobs since the collapse in 2009), but it is demonstrating right now that America can lead again globally on advanced technology and the environment. Its not just a fact check…it’s a reality check.

Judge for yourself: here’s where Chrysler is putting its money, investment and jobs (emphasis added):

 “Toledo, Ohio , Nov 16, 2011 – Chrysler Group LLC announced today that it will invest $1.7 billion to support the development and production of the next generation Jeep® SUV in 2013, including $500 million at the Toledo Assembly Complex (Ohio). As a result, the Company will add a second shift of production or about 1,100 jobs, bringing total employment at the complex to over 2,800.

…. With today’s announcement, Chrysler Group is planning to invest more than $4.5 billion in the U.S. and has made significant progress toward building a successful enterprise since June 2009, including:

• reporting net income of $212 million in the third quarter of 2011;
• reporting the 19th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains in October;
• planning to invest $165 million to add a new one million square-foot body shop to its Sterling Heights (Mich.) Assembly Plant;
• announcing a $72 million investment in the Toledo (Ohio) Machining Plant;
• confirming a $114 million investment to repurpose about one-fifth or nearly 400,000-square feet of the Trenton North Engine Plant for the production of core components for the Pentastar engine produced at Trenton South;
• investing nearly $1.3 billion into the Company’s existing transmission manufacturing facilities in Kokomo, Ind., to accommodate production of a new advanced front-wheel drive automatic transmission; increase capacity and support production of the World Engine and improve processes for the 62TE transmission program; and accommodate future production of a new highly fuel-efficient eight-speed automatic transmission;
• announcing a $600 million investment in its Belvidere Assembly Plant;
• confirming an investment of $850 million in its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and surrounding stamping facilities;
• planning an investment of $150 million in its GEMA (Dundee, Mich.) facility;
• announcing in December 2009 that it will invest $179 million to launch production of the 1.4-liter, 16-valve Fully Integrated Robotized Engine (FIRE) at the company’s Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) plant in Dundee, Mich., creating more than 150 new Chrysler jobs;
• adding a second shift of production – or nearly 1,100 jobs – at its Jefferson North Assembly Plant in May 2010;
• adding nearly 900 jobs on a second shift at its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in February 2011;
• launching the all-new 2011 Jeep® Grand Cherokee in May 2010;
• beginning production of the all-new Fiat 500, Dodge Durango, Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger in December 2010;
• starting production of the 2011 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger in January.”

In a statement today, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne updated these numbers to a total of 11,200 Chrysler jobs added in the U.S. since 2009, and said: “I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China.”

As is true across the industry, the new cars, trucks, engines and transmissions Chrysler is building will also be much more fuel efficient. These new fuel-efficient cars and trucks are on track to deliver huge oil savings, deep carbon-pollution reductions, and tens of billions of dollars a year in net savings for consumers. New fuel economy standards working together with investments in manufacturing clean energy technology in America—like those made by Chrysler—are delivering greater innovation, improved global competitiveness, and even more jobs than via economic recovery alone.

VIDEO: See first hand what workers who build the Jeep Grand Cherokee at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly plant that have to say, here.

Photo: DrivingGrowth.org

The list above are just Chrysler’s investments and accomplishments. They don’t include the other automakers—domestic and foreign—or the hundreds of suppliers who see new orders and new investment as Chrysler retools and increases production. Chrysler’s profits have also continued to rebound since the time of this release in Nov 2011.

The reality check? Investments in rebuilding a clean competitive auto industry are working for America. This is good news for families and communities all across America, and that’s a reality that needs to continue. 

It was all about the future of energy at an event at the Center for American Progress here in DC Friday morning when CAP released their  new report:  “Regional Energy, National Solutions:  A Real Energy Vision for America”.  NWF authored the Midwest  and Southeast chapters of the report.

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline runs under the straits of Mackinac. Photo: MDOT Photo/Video Unit

Meanwhile, back at the event,  speakers including Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, described a diverse national clean energy strategy, built on the powerful energy, manufacturing and technology assets of regions across America.  Speakers and the report contrast this diverse clean energy plan to the American Petroleum Institute’s “Drill Baby Drill” vision: more oil and other fossil fuels.  Period.   That vision is conveniently simple.  The impacts, less so.

Fossil fuels play a large role in today’s economy, but we now know that the energy that powered the last two centuries comes with a side dish of volatile prices, environmental, health and safety risks, and it speeds climate change -which, by itself, threatens our economy, security, and sustaining the natural world for our children.

Fortunately, as Friday’s report describes, the energy world has changed.  Today we have a wealth of large scale opportunities that take energy, our economy, and the future of wildlife and our outdoor heritage forward together.  

Large scale clean energy implementation is happening across the country. Graphic: Center for American Progress

 Or, as NWF climate policy director, Joe Mendelson, said about last weeks pipeline “anomalies”:  “The best approach to our energy challenges isn’t building more pipelines, its embracing clean energy solutions that don’t spill or explode”

So whats really happening out there?

As we show in the report, states and regions all across the country are proving that they can prosper by implementing new energy technologies at scale. They show that a diverse national clean energy strategy anchored on strengths of the whole nation can build hundreds of thousands of jobs, and revitalize our economy. These solutions are real  and they may include some surprises:

• Offshore wind is the only utility-scale energy resource abundant enough to contribute substantially to the sustained, long-term energy demands of the Atlantic Coast region. Developing just 54 gigawatts of offshore wind in Atlantic waters would generate $200 billion in economic activity and create 43,000 permanent, well-paid technical jobs, in addition to displacing the annual output of 52 coal-fired power plants. (these regional bullets excerpted from CAP’s press release, and fact sheet)

NWF’s own recent report The Turning Point Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy underscores these results and emphasizes the diverse economic opportunities for states from Maine to Florida from robust adoption of offshore wind.  NWF was happy to join Clean Energy States Alliance who authored the Atlantic coast chapter of today’s report on their release.

Building the next generation of fuel efficient vehicles.  Photo: Sam VarnHagen/ Ford Motor Co.

• In addition to revitalizing American manufacturing, the deep oil savings from vehicles now being built in the Midwest under strong new fuel economy standards mean net savings to consumers of more than $54 billion a year in 2030 and will add 570,000 jobs to the economy.

• The Southeast boasts more firms across the high-tech smart-grid value chain than any other region and continuing to lead this transition offers the opportunity to create diverse job opportunities. At the same time, if [through enhanced efficiency], the region were to cut energy use across the region by 16 percent in 2030  consumers would see an annual savings of $71 billion and 520,000 jobs by 2030.

• In the Gulf Coast region, each $1 million in investment in ecosystem restoration can create as many as 36 jobs across a huge range of occupations and skill levels—more than equivalent investments in traditional infrastructure projects.
• The Mountain West boasts nearly unlimited renewable energy resources and these nonhydro projects, either under construction or in advanced development, represent 71,872 jobs. A study by Headwaters Economics found that from 1970–2010, nonmetropolitan counties in the West that had more than 30 percent protected federal lands increased jobs by 345 percent. Nonmetropolitan counties with no protected federal lands saw just 83 percent growth.
• The solar industry in California has experienced significant growth over the past 15 years. Since 1995 the number of solar businesses grew by 171 percent, and total employment jumped by 166 percent. As a point of comparison, the total number of California businesses has grown by 70 percent and employment increased by 12 percent.

These examples are not the only promising clean energy opportunities for the given regions, nor have we covered all the regions or promising technologies for the nation. But they clearly show a wealth of win-win energy opportunities in front of us that deliver to communities,  industries, and the environment across the country.  America’s energy strategy should start there.

Here’s the real story

Today’s headlines that start-up battery maker A123 would file for bankruptcy was quickly followed by news that major automotive and efficiency equipment supplier Johnson Controls would buy A123′s automotive business, complementing JCI’s existing investments in advanced battery facilities in Michigan and Ohio.  More on the details here.

As Alex Molinaroli, president, Johnson Controls Power Solutions said this morning:

“Our interest in A123 Systems is consistent with our long-term growth strategies and overall commitment to the development of the advanced battery industry.”

Update since this blog was published:  Johnson Control’s bid for A123 in October touched off a bidding contest with Wanxiang, the large Chinese auto parts manufacturer, Japan’s NEC, and others.  In January, 2013 Wanxiang was ultimately successful, winning approval to buy A123 for about $260M.  Wanxiang voiced a similar optimism around the future of the battery industry, and reiterated a commitment to the company’s US operations.

In other words, while pundits jumped in to score political points, clean energy investments just kept on trucking.

The new Ford C-Max plug-in hybrid EV gets a 100mpge rating from EPA and is built in Michigan. Photo: Ford Motor Co.

• DOE clean energy investments across some 15,000 projects in all 50 states are overwhelmingly successful
• In 2010 3.1 million Americans were employed in “green goods and services” as calculated by the Bureau of Labor statistics…. and that doesn’t even include most of the rapidly innovating auto industry
• Since mid 2009, the auto industry has added over 230,000 jobs as it retools to build and sell the next generation of far more fuel efficient vehicles
• Ohio has added nearly 10,000 auto and parts  manufacturing  jobs since July 2009. Indiana has added 20,000 and Michigan 33,000 in the same time period.
• Toledo Ohio alone has at least $1Billion in recent investment in clean energy and advanced vehicle technologies  including a$140M investment made by Johnson Controls in their start-stop advanced battery plant in Toledo that retains 400 jobs and adds 50 more.

The electric vehicle industry is real and growing.  Yes, like any new industry the EV industry has its growing pains and its winners and losers. But real cars require real batteries and a host of other technology shared with hybrid and advanced conventional vehicles that is creating a boom in automotive innovation and jobs .

• EV sales are growing rapidly – consumers are adopting EVs faster than they did the hybrid Prius when it was initally released.
• Volt sales are up 300% from last year, and the Volt is currently outselling half of all car models on the market.
• EVs are not just the Volt, the Leaf, and the Tesla, but include vehicles from Ford, BMW and others.  In fact, more than a dozen different electric vehicles will be offered next year.

Many of these vehicles, their components and batteries are being built across the US in states from California to Michigan to Tennessee, and are a part of hundreds of companies’ businesses plans.

They are also part of a clean energy transformation of the auto sector that shows that America has what it takes to combat climate change and spur an economic recovery at the same time.

98% success means that for every one Solyndra, there are forty nine stories like Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant just an hour or two up the road from last night’s debate.                                                                                                                                                          

In fact, this DOE loan to Ford is actually 11 successes in five states that together support 33,000 jobs.  In addition, these successes unequivocally show that American companies and workers have what it takes to lead the world in building the innovative clean energy technologies that combat climate change.   

The retooled Louisville Assembly Plant celebrated in June. Photo: Sam VarnHagen/ Ford Motor Co.

Today in Louisville, the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant  is running at full capacity around the clock 7 days a week and employs 4600 workers. Ford made a $600 million investment in the plant, which added 1800 jobs in 2010 and another 1300 in 2011.   The “transformed” plant builds the redesigned and more efficient Ford Escape which is also on track to beat sales records.

 “Workers who once worried if they would even have a job here, are now working extra hours. “It really makes us feel good about our future,” says [plant] manager John Savona. “We are building vehicles that customers want.”

At the opening of the retooled plant in June, state and city leaders, the company and the union talked about how working with government and each other had resulted in a turnaround that delivered on innovation, to the community and to the economy.

Louisville’s story isn’t unique.  Not only have DOE investments saved or brought back tens of thousands of jobs and cut pollution, but they’re a direct investment in the success and competitiveness of American businesses large and small.    These successes are also supported by smart clean energy, fuel economy, and tax policies that create the certainty the private sector needs to invest in clean technologies of the future.  They build on world leading science and R&D in our National Labs, DOE programs that help companies commercialize cutting edge innovation in America, and Department of Commerce, programs that help small manufacturers develop the processes and skills to develop new businesses in rapidly growing clean energy fields.

 Strong demand for fuel efficient cars and trucks like the Escape is also driving job growth in the thousands of companies that make the innovative parts and components for these vehicles, cutting carbon pollution and pain at the pump.  

So let’s replace naysaying about American failures with the truth about Americans working together to succeed. With approximately 14700 successes to choose from, feel free to pick one near you.

Climate change and extreme weather “a threat to our children’s future.” the President said in his address. | Photo–NWF

What with the Administration’s recent announcement of strong new fuel economy standards, regular news on automotive job growth across the country, and great August sales numbers, the auto industry revival is a success story for consumers, the economy and energy security.

It’s also powerful proof that America can man up on climate change.

Last night the President stated clearly that climate change is real and that it is causing real hardship for Americans.

He can speak with confidence because he can point to proof that American government, American business, and the American people have what it takes to turn climate change around.

Every great new car and truck you see on the road is that proof.

Loading new vehicles at Lordstown Assembly. NWF – Zoe Lipman

• It looks like hundreds of American businesses—from 100-year old Chevrolet, to brand new start-ups—showing that American innovation can deliver products with half the climate pollution in just over a decade.
• It looks like thousands of lasting jobs in communities all across the country that show that American workers can compete and win in the global economy.
• It looks like good government bringing opponents together to craft breakthrough, broadly supported laws that provide a solid foundation for investment, prosperity, and the protection of the natural world for our children.

If a combination of good government and the hard work of just one industry will cut carbon pollution equivalent to 10% of all U.S. climate pollution today, what if we all stepped up?

The time for running from climate change is over.  The auto recovery is proof of our capacity to fight it.

For more information or to take action click here

Jason Miller, Special Assistant to the President on Manufacturing Policy, Tim Warman, NWF VP of Climate and Energy, center, and Al Ebron of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium at the June 27th event.

Panels on economic recovery and innovation brought together manufacturers, educators, and leaders in labor and local economic development and a robust audience of auto sector experts. The event was opened by Administration leaders, and NWF joined White House staff and NRDC as moderators.

Panelists—and not always those you’d expect—communicated the thrill of the technological renaissance underway and the reward of rebuilding jobs and businesses in hard-hit communities. They conveyed a deep commitment to protecting the environment and prosperity for the next generation, and a shared sense that smart fuel-economy standards, investments and partnerships with government and each other mean continued progress.

The full video of Advanced Vehicles: Driving Growth is online (Part 1, Part 2), and look for additional NWF staff thoughts on the event and on the landmark 54.5mpg fuel economy standards due to be finalized this summer here on Wildlife Promise.

To see what’s happening in many more communities who are part of creating the next generation of clean cars and trucks, check out DrivingGrowth.org (NWF is a partner in this new site whose similar name is coincidental).

What is happening in the auto sector today? What does innovation mean to you? What does the future of the auto sector hold? How do we sustain progress? and what does it mean to our future?

Clean cars and trucks are bringing back jobs

Fuel saving EcoBoost engines being manufactured at Ford’s Cleveland Engine plant (credit: © Ford Motor Company)

Panel speakers talked about bringing this turnaround to life in communities like Toledo, Ohio or Greensburg, Indiana, where Honda is building its new Acura ILX hybrid. “It may seem counterintuitive,” said Vince De Zorzi of Nexteer Automotive which builds fuel saving electric power steering systems, “but during our transformation, we’ve brought back work from Mexico, Brazil and India into Saginaw, Michigan.”

“It wasn’t too many years ago that Toledo in any economic development statistic would have been listed as leading the race to the bottom, now the Brookings Institution will tell you… that we’re helping to lead the recovery…. What we’re seeing right now is … $900M of capital investment in … three facilities alone – one by JCI, one by Chrysler, and one by General Motors with its powertrain plant. These facilities are not only helping to retain about 3800 jobs, and create 1500 new jobs, the products they are producing help further the goals of environmental sustainability and fuel economy.” “We’re also seeing a diversification of our economy. Toledo, building on its tradition as a glass manufacturer, has been one of the leading centers in North America for the solar industry. And just four months ago a European company, Isofoton, came to Napoleon, Ohio where they’re making a $30M investment to build solar panels, and as they ramp up they’ll add 300 jobs.”   – Ford Weber, President and CEO, Lucas County Improvement Corporation (LCIC)/Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development Association

Michael Psaros of KPS Capital Partners, spoke about investments made by private equity, in collaboration with labor, to rebuild businesses making natural gas-powered buses and forgings for high efficiency engines that help meet new fuel economy standards: “the technology is here. America is a leader….These initiatives are to be applauded and we’re investing tens of millions of dollars behind them.”

“We started many years ago as a driveline and hydraulic steering company… As the market and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles moves forward, we’re finding that electric power steering is coming into the market far more rapidly than we thought… Like [others] we also went through some very, very difficult times. We had to transform our business model and we wouldn’t have done it without the partnership with the union, without the sacrifices, vision, and courage… they had.   As a result, we’re currently investing over $100 million in…our oldest plant, built in 1953, and converting it into a state of the art electric power steering facility, which over the next few years will supply the majority of full sized pick-up trucks in North America.”  —Vince De Zorzi, Senior Vice President Global Manufacturing Operations, Driveline Business Unit, Chief Quality Officer, Nexteer Automotive

Innovation is rebuilding America’s technological leadership

“I was privileged to attend the opening day of the …Detroit auto show this year. What I saw there was breathtaking,” Those comments from CEQ Deputy Director Gary Guzy in the opening panel were echoed by NWF’s Tim Warman, opening the second panel, who reflected that not only does automotive innovation hold one of the keys to addressing the climate challenge, but that “we’re living at a time when you can buy the best cars ever made.”

“The internal combustion engine has been around for 100 plus years, and when you look at the leaps and bounds we’ve made in technology in that time, the internal combustion engine just [hadn’t] kept pace with that. [But] the news now is that it has and it will. I spoke about the EcoBoost engine earlier, we’ll also have a 4-cylinder version of that coming out, and – I’m not at liberty say what – but there’s something after that coming – that…fuel economy-wise and environmentally will be absolutely astounding…and it will be built right in Cleveland.” —Mike Gammella, President of UAW Local 1250, Ford Cleveland Engine plant

Speakers conveyed the excitement and pace of innovation, and provided a glimpse of their particular approaches to transforming “traditional” internal combustion engine technology, and capturing leadership in the next generation of hybrid, electric and other technologies.

“We don’t clearly know what kind of power plant will be powering our vehicles out beyond 2025—will it be advanced internal combustion engines powered by gasoline on ethanol or natural gas, or advanced diesel engines, or will it be electric drive vehicles powered by batteries, or hydrogen fueled electric drive vehicles?… So frankly it’s a very exciting time to be an automotive engineer… The race is on for us to meet the challenges of air quality, climate change and energy security…The future of the auto industry will be determined by retail customers who buy these cars.. so we have to make sure that every product we develop will be better than the one it replaces.”  —Ryan Harty, Manager of Environmental Business Development, Honda

 

“Large companies and governments have a responsibility to adopt a portfolio theory in which they explore many different aspects of how to solve the problem… For a small company like ours that lives and dies by its first and second product, we are very committed to lithium ion batteries and we have to make sure that particular economic and wallet argument works best. We received a 4 million grant from ARPA-E in December 2009, and we developed a world record battery [with an energy density] of 400 Wh/kg. This is a moonshot in the electrochemistry business. …We made automotive grade cells and gave it to the naval surface warface center in Crane, Indiana, and they tested our claims. …. What does this mean for the automotive industry? Well I think good news is on the horizon. A 150-200 mile [per charge, electric] car for $30,000 or less is not too far away ….. We were founded to make a mass market electric vehicle [possible].   —Atul Kapadia, CEO of Envia Systems Inc

“Ive worked in the automotive industry for 33 years, all in the advanced battery area, and clearly this is the most exciting time… ”At our UAW battery plant in Toledo (and we appreciate our partnership with the state of Ohio) we are investing over $100M in establishing a new line for what is called AGM technology. It’s a battery that’s critical to the stop-start technology you’re hearing about. Basically when the vehicle is at at a stop light, the engine shuts off [if its not needed]… the bottom line is that technology allows you to achieve a 5-12% fuel economy enhancement. Now that AGM technology facilitates the advanced electrical capability in the vehicle, but its also a lighter weight battery than the conventional battery it replaces… and the process we use to make this battery uses less energy and emits less CO2.”   —Michael Andrew, Director of Government Affairs and External Communications at Johnson Controls, Inc. 

Partnerships, standards, investments key

The value of long-term performance-based fuel economy standards in providing a predictable climate for investment, and in building  the next generation of competitive technology and jobs was a recurrent theme in the day’s discussions. But participants stressed that government, industry and the public must continue to work together to make advanced energy and transportation a priority if America is to lead in the global economy.

PepsiCo, like Johnson Controls is one of the many companies deploying advanced technology vehicles in their corporate fleets as part of DOE’s National Clean Fleets Partnership. (Credit: Zoe Lipman)

Kapadia concurred, citing the the strong investment by China and South Korea in R&D.  He told the story of the U.S. government investment in the Human Genome Project that had generated hundreds of billions in economic activity. “I don’t think that this money we spend on claiming technology leadership is a waste… As a country we just have to make a decision about whether energy is important or not… if we can see the same kind of results on the energy side … I am convinced we won’t be only identifying problems on [the next] panel, we’ll be taking about how many different kinds of electric cars, how many soldiers and… oil dollars have we saved …and… how much have we saved the environment over the next 10-20 years.”

Gammella was frank on the benefits of the auto recovery loans: ”Understand, I work for Ford Motor Company, Ford was fine, we didn’t need a loan, however, if … those auto parts makers [had] gone down with General Motors and Chrysler, we wouldn’t be here having this discussion today, we’d be talking about the auto disaster instead of the auto revitalization.”

Speakers also flagged a variety of consumer incentives including the Cash for Clunkers program as means of helping households more rapidly purchase fuel efficient vehicles – while others stressed that growing family supporting jobs in the manufacturing sector is critical to ensuring a market for the new technologies we manufacture.

Delivering hope, prosperity and healthy world for our children

Innovation isn’t just happening in technology –people and communities are critical. Companies and the union stressed new partnerships between workers and management that are unlocking innovation on the shop floor, while educators talked about new training being implemented to suit a changing industry.

“We need to create a situation where our students are flexible enough to work in this [rapidly innovating] industry… We need to start to do not just short term skills training for specific areas, but for whole careers….

We have to cross over a watershed … Innovation is [not just] something people in universities do… innovation is often day to day activities on a factory floor. The challenge is not just to respond to the employment growth today, but create a structure for the future.” —Dr. Jim Jacobs, President of Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan

Panelists had an animated debate about ensuring rewarding and family-suppporting jobs, skills and the inspiration to young people – to enable them to build fulfilling careers in the new high tech manufacturing sector. Andrew, from Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, and Al Ebron, Executive Director of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC)  West Virginia University in Morgantown, described their respective partnerships at the high school level, while others spoke personally about the importance of communicating the changes in the manufacturing sector and reviving enthusiasm in making things.

States and cities are playing a role in education and outreach as well.  Jules Toraya, Program Manager at the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), Clean Cities-Atlanta, City of Atlanta, talked about what is happening in in the Southeast to help deploy electric vehicle and alternative fuel technologies, and his own epiphany while in Iraq on the importance of energy independence and clean energy jobs for veterans. And he gave a shout out to young entrepreneurs, citing a new electric skateboard manufacturer: “For the younger generation, we have to demonstrate and make our own value—and we are doing that.”

Gammella took a more sober view, but ended on a similar note: “There are a whole lot of people out there that don’t have much hope… We have kids graduating from college who can’t find a job …we’ve got to give these young people hope…WE have to bring it back … we have to manufacture here we have to be the high tech technology leader here. That’s what America’s all about.”

Credit: NWF

“Our goal should be to have mobility while preserving the natural world; I think we can meet that goal,” said NRDC Senior Vehicles Analyst Luke Tonachel.   Harty, of Honda, spoke about Honda engineers’ commitment to “blue skies for our children”, while Gamella, underscoring the importance of fuel efficient vehicles, said: “Bottom line is this, we all breathe the same air, we all live in the same world, we have to protect the environment first and foremost, and one the biggest ways to do that is we have to get off our dependency on foreign oil. And we can do that …in this country.”

UAW Vice President, Cindy Estrada summed it up in speaking about her two children, and the potential to build prosperity, good jobs, and healthy environment at once: “I think we’re going to get there… its not an option not get there, I want [my two kids] to be in that kind of world.”

 

(Credit:  wh.gov for Photos of Weber, Dezorzi, Andrew, Jacobs, Estrada as well as Photos of Gamella, Kapadia, Harty, Warman et al.)

credit:Zoe Lipman

That battery is the ancestor—or cousin—of the much larger batteries now powering electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that we’re not far from the day when homeowners will regularly heave an even bigger sigh of relief, and thank their car for keeping the freezer running when the power goes down.

Even better, putting new vehicle technology together with plug and play solar panels and “smart grid” energy management—almost all available today—could provide even greater benefits and security to homeowners and the grid.

Energy Infrastructure Vulnerable to More Extreme Weather

Climate change is bringing more weather and climate extremes, including the intense storms that create challenges for the power companies. Last year NWF published More Extreme Weather and the U.S. Energy Infrastructure a report on the vulnerability of the nation’s energy infrastructure to just these sorts of climate impacts. That report flags the need to take action to anticipate stronger storms, as well as more intense heat and drought, which present challenges for generating electricity in conventional thermoelectric power plants that require water for cooling.

Indeed, this week’s huge outage revived the debate locally over burying power lines underground, and underscored the need for a national discussion around how to make urgently needed large scale upgrades our infrastructure in light of climate change, to prevent individual and business losses, and to support a modern economy.

A frustrated Maryland state Senator was quoted in a recent article: “Every time this happens, they say they’re shocked—shocked that it rained or snowed or it was hot—which isn’t an acceptable excuse given that we all know about climate change.”

But today, we are also in the midst of a clean energy and transportation technology renaissance that means that a key part of enhancing climate resilience and the security of our energy system can come from actions we take in our own homes.

Sneak Peak at Power “Outages” of the Future

Today, if you generate power with solar panels on your roof, that power is rarely stored; it flows to immediate home use or back onto the grid. In the case of an outage, that homemade power must also be shut down to prevent electricity from flowing back into the grid and injuring repair workers.

But an electric vehicle (or even a second-hand electric vehicle battery, used just for that purpose) does store the power you generate from solar panels on your roof—and it can be enabled (especially on an occasional basis) to provide that power back to your home. Meanwhile, “smart grid” improvements in energy management systems can enable utilities to control the power on their systems in much more detail, and provide smart appliances and devices for individuals to use to connect and manage the energy and technology in their homes.

These technologies are mainly being used separately today. But in new combinations they can provide households and car owners with new benefits on a daily basis, as well as the ability to easily provide their own backup power in an emergency.

Increasing numbers of households or businesses making, storing and/or using their own power could make our energy systems more resilient at the neighborhood level and system wide, and help reduce costs and hardships as we face the likelihood of more extreme weather and power events. And as they make use of renewable power, electric fuel, and efficiency technology even easier and more widespread they also reduce the pollution that causes climate change and extreme weather to begin with.

Energy-resilient Households Closer Than You Might Think

credit: © Ford Motor Company

Making this all work does mean upgrading our infrastructure, but it also means big opportunities for households, businesses, and technology entrepreneurs, to start putting the pieces together.

How to Participate:

• Watch the White House webcast live on Wednesday, June 27, from 2:30-5:30 p.m. ET.
• Join the Twitter discussion at #DrivetheFuture

The speakers we’ll hear on Wednesday – from Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Wisconsin, California and elsewhere – show that America has what it takes to lead in the clean energy and transportation technologies of the future: innovative people and companies, advanced skills and technology – and smart policies that work for us all.

Their stories show that America’s heritage of innovation and industry CAN go forward together with stewardship of our natural resource and wildlife heritage – it has to, if we’re to deliver a better American future for ourselves and our children.

NWF CEO Larry Schweiger (left) and NWF Great Lakes Regional Executive Director, Andy Buchsbaum, at the North American International Auto Show following the Detroit fuel economy hearings in January. Schweiger testified: “Over the past two years, the hardworking people here in Detroit, and in Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, and across the country have proven – dramatically – that they have what it takes for America to lead in a prosperous clean energy future.”  (credit: Jennifer Janssen)

Driving Innovation, Jobs and the Future for Wildlife

Today, we’re facing tough financial times and unprecedented global threats to wildlife and environment. These challenges demand we move forward even faster to invent, build and adopt the next generation of clean auto technology in America – and grow the environmental, economic and consumer benefits that come with it.

The numbers are clear. Smart fuel economy standards together with investments to invent and build the most advanced auto technology in America, deliver:

• Unprecedented cuts in the pollution that causes climate change and deep oil and consumer savings: Check out NWF CEO Larry Schweiger’s testimony at the Detroit hearings for the details on pollution cuts and savings at the pump from fuel economy standards that will double our fuel economy by 2025.
• Great new cars and trucks: from the more efficient and more powerful pickup trucks that are bringing sportsmen vehicles that work in the outdoors and for it – to new technologies like electric vehicles that bring transportation and household energy innovation together.
• Hundreds of thousands of jobs and career paths for the next generation in cutting edge industries across the country: Check out Supplying Ingenuity – a snapshot of 300+companies in 43 states building technology that improves fuel economy.

How do we extend these benefits to people and environment?  What can we learn from our successes in the auto sector to rebuild more of our economy while protecting wildlife and natural resources for our children? 

What’s your answer? Join the Twitter conversation at #DriveTheFuture >>

With the Fourth of July weekend coming up, we recall that George Washington didn’t turn back at the banks of the Delaware. In communities all across the country, Americans are proving we have what it takes to lead in the coming clean energy and transportation revolution. This is no time to turn back – it’s time to keep driving forward.