Babauta was the keynote speaker at the 20th Annual Pacific Power Association Conference held last week on Guam.
Now, more than at any other time, a crucial and timely endeavor to develop sustainable renewable energy opportunities and available technologies throughout the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean is important, said Babauta.
He acknowledged that other alternatives such as solar, wind and oceanic energy resources are abundantly available, but the technology, infrastructure and human capacity necessary to safely and reliably provide those energy resources en masse to individual households at an affordable price throughout the Pacific Islands and other small and isolated states is a complex endeavor.
Babauta said the region must overcome technological, economic, political and cultural challenges to achieving renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“You know this best; and as each island moves forward with a strategic plan to increase efficiency and employ renewable and alternative methods to power homes and businesses, utilities which you represent could be fairly or unfairly criticized of being in the way,” Babauta said in his speech.
“Nationally, many have heard the call to ‘drill-baby-drill’ and I understand how that mantra has molded a utility’s way of life to burn-baby-burn,” said Babauta.
Moving in a direction away from “burn-baby-burn” is difficult, but it recognizes many global minds and experts who strongly believe that the way forward needs to include other methods of meeting our planet’s growing demand, he added.
Babauta shared that last year, the International Energy Agency’s Chief Economist, Dr. Fatih Birol, said even if demand for oil over the next 20 years was to remain flat, the world would need to find four new Saudi Arabias to compensate for the production decline of existing oil fields.
Babauta said he believed the islands have taken the warnings seriously, following each respective governors’ creation of the renewable and alternative energy taskforces, a partnership with the Interior and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to conduct energy assessments in each of the three U.S. Pacific territories.
“The assessments for Guam and the Northern Marianas are completed and their taskforces continue the necessary steps to develop a comprehensive energy strategy for their communities; and we look forward to the assessment being completed for American Samoa shortly,” he said.
In addition, the Department of Interior has already invested to help establish and fund the Center for Island Sustainability for Guam and also the Micronesian Center for a Sustainable Future.
“Both are being housed at the University of Guam and receive not only funding from my office but from other agencies within the federal government, the business community, and international organizations,” said Babauta.
