Remarks of Consul General Beth A. Payne at IIT, Kharagpur

November 7, 2009

Professor Damodar Acharya, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Professor Amit Patra, Dean of Alumni Affairs and International Relations
Prof. Joy Sen, Dept. of ARP
Prof. Oopali Operajita, Chairperson, Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a pleasure for me to be present at the prize distribution ceremony of the “Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition” which I understand is Asia's first and most prestigious competition for business plans that incorporate sustainable clean technology as their basis.

While increasing economic growth and living standards are important goals, these efforts must also be sustainable.  We cannot diminish our children's future by undermining the very means that allows human being to live and prosper.  Former vice president Al Gore provided a cogent wakeup call to the world through his film “An Inconvenient Truth” noting that if nothing is done soon, environmental damage caused by human activity may become irreversible.

Vice President Gore noted that concrete steps need to be taken to adopt environmentally friendly production processes and that we collectively need to alter our consumption patterns and habits before it is too late.  Growth and development cannot be forsaken, but technologies should be developed that address environment well being along with growth and profit.  Sustainable growth is the key to global welfare.

As President Obama has stated, “We will move forward with investments to transform our energy economy, while providing incentives to make clean energy the profitable kind of energy.  We will press ahead with deep cuts in emissions to reach the goals that we set for 2020, and eventually 2050.  We will continue to promote renewable energy and efficiency, and share new technologies with countries around the world.  And we will seize every opportunity for progress to address this threat in a cooperative effort with the entire world… As we head into Copenhagen, let us resolve to focus on what each of us can do for the sake of our common future.”

The U.S. Government is committed to helping businesses invest in green technologies.  The government has made the largest ever investment in renewable energy – an investment aimed at doubling the generating capacity from wind and other renewable resources in three years.  Across America, loan guarantees and tax credits have enabled entrepreneurs to construct wind turbines, solar panels and batteries for hybrid cars – these projects have in turn created new jobs and new industries.

We're investing billions to cut energy waste and enhance energy efficiency in our homes, buildings, and appliances -- helping American families save money on energy bills in the process.  We've proposed the very first national policy aimed at both increasing fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks -- a standard that will also save consumers money and our nation oil.  We're moving forward with our nation's first offshore wind energy projects.  We're investing billions to capture carbon pollution so that we can clean up our coal plants.

For the first time ever, the government has begun tracking how much greenhouse gas pollution is being emitted throughout the country.  At the G20 summit, President Obama deliberated with other heads of state on how to phase out fossil fuel subsidies so that we can better address our climate challenge.  There has been a recent drop in overall U.S. emissions which is testimony to the steps that promote greater efficiency and greater use of renewable energy.

Most importantly, the House of Representatives passed an energy and climate bill in June that would finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy for American businesses and dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  One committee has already acted on this bill in the Senate and the President is pushing hard to get Congress to pass this important piece of legislation.  It’s a tough fight, but as the President’s Special Representative for Climate Change, Todd Stern, recently stated “The United States has done more to promote clean energy and address climate change, reducing carbon pollution in the last nine months than at any other time in our history.”

However, government initiatives cannot succeed unless there is cooperation from business leaders, innovators, engineers and business planners.  Engineers need to integrate social, environmental, and economic considerations into product; process and energy systems design methods.  Sustainable engineering encourages the consideration of the complete product and process lifecycle during the design effort. The intent is to minimize the total of the environmental impacts across the entire lifecycle while simultaneously maximizing the benefits to social and economic stakeholders. 

Business plans should be developed that will equip engineers with the tools they need to meet the challenges associated with delivering goods, energy and services through sustainable means.  The fields where sustainable engineering can be applied are many and varied: Water supply, food production, housing and shelter, sanitation and waste management, energy development, transportation, industrial processing, development of natural resources, cleaning up polluted waste sites, siting and planning projects to reduce environmental and social impacts, restoring natural environments such as forests, lakes, streams, and wetlands, improving industrial processes to eliminate waste and reduce consumption.  We need innovators and inventors who will develop viable environment friendly business ideas and business processes.

It is in this context that the Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition is the right step in the right direction at the right time.  The competition will tap the fresh innovative creativity of young innovators, entrepreneurs, and managers and instill the habit of sustainability into a new generation of India’s formidable engineering, science, technology and management students for future application of sustainable technology solutions in their fields of practice.  I am honored to present prizes to these future leaders who will lead the movement to save this imperiled planet. 

Congratulations!