The creation of the California Institute for Climate Solutions, a $600 million new research institute created by the state Public Utilities Commission, demonstrates bold leadership on the seminal environmental and economic issue of our time – climate change. It also lets Californians do what we do best: lead in innovation in a way that is good for both the environment and the economy.
The Golden State has a long history of “eco” innovation. As just one example, the California Energy Commission reports that over the past 20 years per-capita energy consumption has steadily increased across the nation while California's has remained flat, despite massive population increases.
This did not happen by chance. It was the result of a series of creative policies and public investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. We did not wait for others to go first. California citizens are now reaping the rewards of these public investments. But there is more to do.
Climate change presents California and the world with serious challenges to the health of its ecosystems and the vitality of its economy. As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said, the debate is over. A series of new California laws sets aggressive targets for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our dependency on foreign oil.
We must now turn our collective attention to moving to a low-carbon economy as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. The Legislature should heed the fact that a course has been set.
It is in this spirit that the PUC created this new institute whose mission is essentially to chart the course that we Californians have chosen. Research will inform the decision-making process to ensure that we fund the technologies and adopt the policies that will make the most difference to utility ratepayers who are footing the bill for the institute.
Like other publicly funded research institutes, the outcomes are uncertain. But investing in research that allows the state to make data-based decisions is critical and will help protect us from the whims of special interests.
The CICS will, among other things, focus on the kind of data-driven research that will assist legislators and the utilities on the best policy alternatives for addressing CO2. A current topic of much discussion illustrates why: Had careful prospective analysis on corn-based ethanol been carefully researched, perhaps we would have realized that the CO2 mitigation would be at best marginal and that the unintended consequences of food-cost inflation were likely.
Now many are looking at the development of cellulosic ethanol, where it appears that the feedstock is cheap and abundant and converting it into ethanol requires less fossil fuel. This new approach must also be driven by data.
As important as is data-driven research, this new institute also presents a leadership opportunity for San Diego for many reasons.
We know how to commercialize life-saving products and create huge economic engines around those products. Here in San Diego, we have a worldwide reputation for success in translating cutting-edge research into life-saving products and services, delivering huge returns on public-and private-sector investment. You see it in the life sciences, materials science and wireless sectors where we have built globally recognized companies. We have created huge industries around these sectors that have served as economic engines for the state and nation, and certainly our region.
There will be vast economic opportunity associated with the commercialization of clean energy technologies as well, and San Diego's track record gives us a distinct advantage in building this important emerging industry. We should do all that we can to ensure that the economic opportunities of this emerging new sector flow to San Diego and its citizens.
We have a culture of collaboration in San Diego and a successful track record of leveraging other resources inside and outside the region. Michael Porter, of Harvard University, who evaluated the innovative performance of regions several years ago, pointed to San Diego's ability to collaborate as a key reason that we are not only on the cutting edge of research but of entrepreneurship.
He pointed to our seamless collaboration among our key industry sectors and between industry and academic and research institutions. We have a long and successful history of taking research from the lab to the marketplace and, in the process, creating new companies and new industries. We are a leader in attracting research dollars and the best and the brightest entrepreneurs.
Climate science was born here at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and continues to inform policy conversations today. Since its founding in 1903, Scripps has been an international leader in studying oceans, the driver of global climate change. Fifty years ago, Charles David Keeling from Scripps started the record of human impact on climate by measuring carbon – innovation that continues to this day. Now, led by renowned scientist Tony Haymet and supported by an entire community of world-class research institutes, universities and companies, San Diego has been the center of activity around climate change for 50 years.
According to the Council on Competitiveness, economists calculate that nearly 50 percent of U.S. annual gross domestic product growth is attributed to increases in innovation. As a state and as a nation, we must continue to innovate. Hats off to the PUC for rejecting the status quo and creating the California Institute for Climate Solutions. This is San Diego's time, and this is our issue.
Burnham is a San Diego civic leader and president of the Burnham Foundation. Roth is chief executive officer of Connect, a nonprofit promoter of entrepreneurship in the San Diego region. Wright is chief executive officer of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.
