Name: PSEG CEO Ralph Izzo on Climate Change Action: 'It Should Have Been Done Yesterday'
Uploaded: 2019-01-25
Duration: 5 min 13 s
Description: Izzo believes a tax on carbon emissions would trigger clean energy innovations.

[ MUSIC ] Ralph, when it comes to the issue of climate change, you've been really vocal on warning about the threats and the risks. That you tell your PSEG customers, less energy which is interesting because It could hurt your company's profits and it's not the sort of the 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.. So, how serious is the threat of carbon emissions? You can just read any one of many reports that talk bout a two degree centigrade rise, a one and a half degree centigrade rise, a two and a half degree centigrade rise All these different increases of different implications for low lying areas for shifting patterns of weather and the resulting shift of economic consequences for agriculture, for tourism, for a variety of things so It is so complex but profound in its implications. Well, you talk about weather related impact and actually we hear many predictions that we'll see many more floods, drought the storms and other severe weather related disasters because of climate change and we've just seen the impact of forest fires at Pacific Gas and Electric California Utility PG & E. And in other news, that it's actually filing for bankruptcy. What can we learn from what happened at PG & E? I think the number one lesson we can learn by observing the story of PG & E is that we have in America, throughout America And aging infrastructure, whether it's roads, whether it's airports, whether it's the electric system, whether it's the potable water system. And eventually, there's a price to be paid for not paying attention to an aging infrastructure. Mm- hm. And I know that we at PSEG are trying hard to stay ahead of that. But even we have 100 year old gas pipes in the ground. We have 70 year old transmission substations that we make use of. So an aging infrastructure is something the nation needs to pay attention to. How vulnerable are utility companies because of all of this. It used to be that if people were out of power for a day or a couple of days life kind of went on. Now if people are without power just long enough not be able to charge their smart phone life changes significantly. So we talk about the fact that in the old days, it was important for the utility system to be reliable. Nowadays, the system has to be beyond reliable. It has to be resilient. It has to be able to withstand these severe weather events. And if it can't withstand the severe weather event, it has to be able to recover quickly, And the grid was not designed with that in mind. 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 live the lives that we choose to live. It looks like the progress so far on climate change has been very peace meal 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 gonna 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 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 decide how much we're willing to pay for carbon reductions, and then let That the creative energy of America entrepreneurship decide whether that means more solar forms, more wind forms, more efficient light bulbs, smart thermostat, and many of other choices. And it's to me, there is wisdom in taxing bad things and lowing taxes on good things

PSEG CEO Ralph Izzo on Climate Change Action: "It Should Have Been Done Yesterday"

Leadership

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