Media Advisory - Long Form
“Green
Electricity or Green Money? Why some environmental
groups hamper clean energy”
Published by the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy
November 3, 2014.
Washington, D.C. A new paper, “Green
Electricity or Green Money? Why some environmental groups hamper clean
energy”,
that highlights conflicts of interest and mistaken 
positions
on energy
policy at certain large environmental organizations was published today
by the
National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy (NISLAPP) in
Washington,
D.C.
Authored by Dr. Timothy
Schoechle of Boulder, CO, Senior Research Fellow at the National
Institute for
Science, Law & Public Policy, under the direction of Camilla
Rees, Policy
Advisor to NISLAPP, “Green Electricity or Green Money?” examines
how
some of our largest and most influential environmental organizations,
appear to
have lost their way and are failing us when we need them most.
Dr. Schoechle says, “Changing
the energy economy and slowing climate change must come from the
people. There
is abundant evidence that it will not come from corporations and
non-profits
heavily invested in existing practices—nor will it come from
governments and
politicians, and regulators heavily compromised and committed to the
existing
order. It will likely be left to the people to reinvent the electricity
system
largely through bottom up community initiatives and disruptive
technologies—motivated by the desire for a clean energy future, control
of
energy costs, economic growth, and local control of environmental
health”.
“Green Electricity or Green
Money?” highlights
cases in which the
large environmental organizations are aiding and abetting a
dysfunctional,
entrenched and polluting electricity and energy economy through
resistance to
renewable energy technologies and ill-advised support for billions of
dollars
of new utility meters, called ‘smart’ meters, which do not have any of
the
benefits claimed.
The paper cites several
well-documented situations involving the Environmental Defense Fund
(EDF) and
the Natural Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC). In “Green
Electricity or Green
Money?” Dr. Schoechle poses the following questions:
·
Why do some large
environmental organizations collaborate with fossil fuel industries to
obstruct, mislead and divert efforts to revamp our energy economy?
·
Do the
significant annual capital needs of these organizations limit their
independence and thus their ability to achieve meaningful environmental
goals?
·
To what degree
have these organizations lost sight of their missions, and thus lost
their
legitimacy as representatives of the people?
·
Should local communities
provide “checks” on Big Environmentalism by taking more control of
their own
energy future to assure sustainability?
·
Are well-known
“clean energy” investors interested in clean energy—or merely in green
money
and the “greenwashing” of their investments?
Jim Turner, Esq., Chairman of
the National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy, says “Much
of what
is advocated under the banner of Big Environmentalism today is neither
protective of the environment nor supportive of sustainability. In
publishing “Green
Electricity or Green Money?” NISLAPP seeks to foster honest
dialogue about
impediments to effective leadership in the environmental sector, and to
encourage grass roots-led environmentalism to assure that investments
in the
energy sector are aligned with the values and interests of people.”
In 2012, NISLAPP published “Getting
Smarter About the Smart Grid”, also by Dr. Schoechle, (www.GettingSmarterAbouttheSmartGrid.org).
That white paper demonstrated that Congress, state and local governments, as
well as ratepayers, have been misled about the potential energy and
cost saving
benefits of the new “smart” meters. It was presented and updated at the
Commonwealth Club of California, one of the nation’s leading public
affairs
forums, in January 2014 (http://tinyurl.com/n7yvo4w).
Dr. Schoechle has been engaged
in the development of electric utility meters, home automation systems,
network
gateways, and energy management systems for over 25 years. He
participates in
several international standards-setting committees related to the smart
grid.
The National Institute for
Science, Law, and Public Policy (NISLAPP) was founded in 1978 to bridge
the gap
between scientific uncertainties and the need for laws protecting
public health
and safety. Its overriding objective is to bring practitioners of
science and
law together to develop intelligent policy that best serves all
interested
parties in a given controversy. Its focus is on the points at which
these two
disciplines converge.