Phoenix Business Journal: U.S. Chamber Executivve Discusses Energy Issues Affecting Arizona, Nation

by Patrick O'Grady

Arizona and the U.S. have some contrasting challenges when dealing with energy policy, and developing new energy sources will take time and money, according to Karen Alderman Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.

Harbert was in Phoenix on Friday talking with the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce at that group’s sustainability summit. While Arizona has its own challenges developing a renewable energy future, doing so on a national level is even more problematic, she said.

“The problem with the debate is that it’s regional in nature,” she said. “The natural resource base is hugely different in South Carolina than it is in Montana.”

Renewable energy standards are being implemented piecemeal across the U.S. as many states pass their own measures. Harbert said the nation as a whole should focus on creating a new energy infrastructure rather than climate-change legislation.

“When you do it state by state, you recognize the regional approach,” she said. “If we decide to do it the other way, we have to do it so that it doesn’t disadvantage certain areas of the country.”

That focus should include resources such as solar (particularly in Arizona), as well as wind. Nuclear and natural gas also should play large roles as technology that can be developed here and provide a large portion of base power, Harbert said.

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