US lauded in Africa for new coal emission proposal
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Leaders at a U.S.-Africa summit on energy congratulated and thanked the United States for a new Obama administration proposal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, the U.S. secretary of energy said Wednesday.
Ernest Moniz attended a two-day summit in Ethiopia to explore strategies to accelerate the development of clean energy sources and the adoption of energy efficient technologies on a continent where two-thirds of the population doesn't have access to electricity.
Moniz said he was surprised at how much those in attendance talked about climate change. The Monday announcement of President Barack Obama's proposed rule for the Environmental Protection Agency to cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels was well received, he said.
Africa is viewed as being highly vulnerable to changing climate patterns, changes African leaders blame on the West.
Ethiopia's prime minister and the chief economist of the International Energy Agency both cheered the Obama administration on the step, Moniz said, in recognition that the U.S. decision "is critical for its leadership on the issue of global climate change."
Jacqueline McGlade, the chief scientist for the United Nationals Environmental Program, which is based in Kenya, said she "wholeheartedly congratulates" the EPA for its decision to reduce coal emissions.
"It has immediate implication for health and more generally we would say it's a genuine contribution to greenhouse gas mitigation," McGlade said.
Nearly a year ago Obama, during a trip to Africa, announced a new venture called "Power Africa," a program aimed at doubling access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, a goal hoped to be achieved in about a decade. The U.S. is making an initial $7 billion commitment, with an additional $9 billion lined up from private companies.
The meeting in Ethiopia this week builds on that announcement, and is an effort to help out the continent's energy infrastructure and provide electricity for economic development. Roughly 60 American companies took part in the summit.
Moniz said the motivation for the summit was not climate specific but said that Africa has extraordinary renewable resources, including hydro, geothermal and solar.
"So the discussion was not driven by carbon reduction but fortunately it was very aligned with that," he said.
McGlade said she sees huge potential across East Africa for geothermal power — potentially 6 gigawatts. And she said no country in Africa should be ignoring the potential of solar, though she cautioned that because Africa is seeing reduced rain because of climate change, hydro-generated power may become less reliable.
The scarcity of reliable power outside of major African cities is fueling a mass migration into the continent's large population centers. Making power more available on micro-power grids outside of major cities will give more people more opportunity for economic growth, she said.
