The new program of HBS' offices in Brussels, Prague and Washington, DC will in particular focus on the Midwest and Southeast of the United States, as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
This program is co-funded by the European Commission. The European Commission is not responsible for the content of the program.
Transatlantic Perspective
With the election of Barack Obama as President, the United States has entered a new era of energy and climate policy. Already in recent years numerous U.S. states had started to promote renewable energies, establish regional emission trading systems and enhance energy efficiency. But it is only now that the current administration and leading voices in the U.S. Congress are trying to pave the way for serious federal legislation. However, there is still strong resistance against ambitious federal policies, mostly coming from regions that depend on coal in electricity production, that have a strong manufacturing base or that are more rural (e.g. states in the Midwest and Southeast of the U.S.). This reiterates that even with a progressive administration, the states still play a key role in formulating and implementing climate and energy policies in the U.S. There are fears that curbing carbon emissions and promoting renewable energies will make energy more expensive, threaten jobs, and harm the economy. But these regions have an important potential for renewable energies, both in terms of natural resources (wind, solar radiation, available biomass) and in a manufacturing tradition that will help to set up renewable energy industries.
Europe, on the other hand, has shown that reducing emissions does not conflict with economic growth. The EU has provided leadership on the way to the future low-carbon economy, for example with its climate and energy package and the unilateral target to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020. But despite these efforts, Europe, too, still has a long way to go before it will reach its objectives and transform its economies into a truly sustainable low-carbon economy. Also, like the U.S., Europe has to deal with regional skepticism within its own borders. Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic oppose ambitious climate policies because of energy-intensive and coal-reliant industries as well as the agriculture sector. Hence, in Europe and the U.S. alike, identifying regional strategies for the transition to the future low carbon economy will not only generate new investments and new sustainable jobs, but also foster political support for future legislation at the federal and European level. Transatlantic cooperation is the best way to identify and implement these regional low carbon strategies.
Objective
This program aims at building a transatlantic policy network providing core regions from Europe and the U.S. with the economic and political strategies to become frontrunners of the future low carbon economy. The program will function as a framework for maximizing policy exchange and mutual learning by comparing the approaches in the respective political systems, - bottom-up in the U.S., top-down in the EU. Drawing on success stories from States such as North-Rhine-Westphalia, the former German industrial stronghold, the program will develop new comprehensive approaches for regions that are currently facing economic downturn and structural change. The program will identify policy tools for generating new jobs and for spurring investment in energy efficiency, renewable energies and sustainable transportation. In particular, the program will focus on the Midwest and the Southeast of the United States, as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
Target Group
The project aims at policy makers, NGO representatives, analysts and journalists from the United States and Europe with a particular regional focus on the Midwest and Southeast of the U.S. as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
