Name: Insights: PSEG CEO on Climate Change Action - 'It Should Have Been Done Yesterday'
Uploaded: 2020-01-14
Duration: 3 min 31 s
Description: Ralph Izzo believes a tax on carbon emissions would trigger clean energy innovations.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Ralph, when it comes to the issue of climate change, you've been very vocal on warning about the threats and the risks. In fact, you tell your PSEG customers, use less energy. Which is interesting because it could hurt your company's profits. And it's not the sort of thing we hear from a lot of CEOs in your business. What is your goal/ What would you like to see happen? Well, I'd like to see us reduce the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere. The science is compelling. It's very clear. It's now decades old. Each week, there seems to be another report that confirms the time to act is now. Well, how serious is the threat of carbon emissions? You could just read any one of many reports that talk about a 2 degree centigrade rise, a 1 and 1/2 degrees centigrade rise, a 2 and 1/2 degree centigrade rise. All these different increases have different implications for low-lying areas, for shifting patterns of weather. And the resulting shift in economic consequences for agriculture, for tourism, for a variety of things. So it is so complex, but profound in its implications. You recently announced a climate change plan for PSEG, $4 billion to cut energy use and carbon emissions. And a big chunk of that money is going toward 40,000 new charging stations for electric vehicles. That's huge. Why now? Should've been done yesterday. We have a three-part vision of the future. We want our customers to use less energy. We want the energy that they use to be cleaner. And we want this cleaner, less amount of energy to be delivered with unparalleled reliability and resiliency. And it's really about the issue that we started the conversation, it's about climate change. And it's about making sure that our increased dependence upon electricity doesn't create harm for the planet. And allows us to lead the lives that we choose to lead. It looks like the progress so far on climate change has been very piecemeal, by individual states and local governments. And the experts say that to have a really successful climate change outlook, it requires a large scale national push with specific urgent agenda. What do you think of that? Well, I think that they're absolutely right. I would say that there are two things that have to get more and more attention. Number one, we do need a national price on carbon if we're going to move away from this patchwork quilt. And number two, we have to come to grips with the important role that nuclear power plays in getting us to a carbon-free future. Right now, nuclear power accounts for over 60% of the carbon-free energy in this country. And just the way in which the grid operates, nuclear is an extremely important part of preserving that reliability that w e about before, while being carbon-free. We know that President Trump and his administration have not placed climate change as a top priority. But if the president asked for your opinion, what is the single most important thing you would ask him to do? To put a price on carbon and then let the market work. Let's decide how much we're willing to pay for carbon reductions and then let the creative energy of American entrepreneurship decide whether that means more solar farms, more wind farms, more efficient light bulbs, smart thermostats, or a myriad of other choices. And to me, there's wisdom in taxing bad things and lowering taxes on good things. [MUSIC PLAYING] 

Insights: PSEG CEO on Climate Change Action - "It Should Have Been Done Yesterday"

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PSEG CEO on Climate Change Action

Ralph Izzo believes a tax on carbon emissions would trigger clean energy innovations.

when it comes to the issue of climate change. You've been very vocal on warning about the threats and the risk that you tell your P S. E G customers use less energy, which is interesting because it could hurt your company's profits. And it's not the sort of thing we hear from a lot of CEOs in your business. What is your goal? What would you like to see happen? Well, I'd like to see us reduce the amount of CO two and other greenhouse gases that air in the atmosphere. The science is compelling. It's very clear now. Decades old. Each week there seems to be another report that confirms the time to act is now. Well, how serious is the threat of carbon emissions? You could just read any one of many reports that talk about a two degrees centigrade rise of one and 1/2 degree centigrade drive two and 1/2 degree centigrade. All these different increases have different implications for low lying areas for shifting patterns of weather and the resulting shift in economic consequences for agriculture, for tourism, for a variety of things. So it is so complex but profound in its implications You recently announced a climate change plan for P F G $4 billion to cut energy use and carbon emissions, and a big chunk of that money is going towards 40,000 new charging stations for electric vehicles. That's huge. Why now? Should have been done Yes way have a three part vision of the future. We want our customers to use less energy. We want the energy that they used to be cleaner. And we want this cleaner, less amount of energy to be delivered with unparalleled reliability and resiliency. And it's really about the issue that we started the conversation. It's about climate change, and it's about making sure that our increased dependence upon electricity doesn't create harm for the planet and allows us to leave the lives that we choose to leave. It looks like the progress so far on climate change has been very piecemeal by individual states and local governments, and the experts say that to have a really successful climate change outlook, it requires a large scale national push with specific, urgent agenda. What do you think that well, I think that they're absolutely right. I was there two things that have to get more and more attention. Number one. We do need a national price on carbon if we're going to move away from this patchwork quilt and number two, we have to come to grips with the important role that nuclear power plays and getting us to a carbon free future. Right now, a nuclear power counts were over 60% of the carbon free energy in this country, and just the way in which the grid operates nuclear is an extremely important part of preserving that reliability that we talked about before while being carbon free. We know that President Trump and his administration have not placed climate change as a top priority. But if the president asked for your opinion, what is the single most important thing you would ask him to do to put a price on carbon and then let the market work? Let's let's decide how much we're willing to pay for carbon reductions and then let let the creative energy of American entrepreneurship decide whether that means more solar farms, more wind farms, more efficient light bulbs, smart thermostats or a myriad of other choices. And it's to me there's wisdom in taxing bad things and lowering taxes on good things