A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes creating an international agency to oversee the deployment of renewable energy on a global scale.
Last week Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, introduced H.R. 5529 to establish the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and close what he called the "clean energy divide." As envisioned in the bill, the agency would provide institutional support for addressing technological, financial, informational, and policy barriers that keep renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies from reaching their full potential internationally.
"If we are to solve the global climate crisis we all face, the world will need coordination and cooperation on an international scale, and we needed it yesterday," said Markey. "This legislation will establish an international body that will speed the healing of the planet and the strengthening of the world’s economy, especially here in America."
New investment in clean energy technology worldwide topped $148 billion in 2007, an increase of 60% over 2006 and up from just $33 billion in 2004. However, about two-thirds of this investment was in just six countries, Markey noted.
Markey said IRENA would encourage the growth of renewable energy in developing countries, reducing the extent to which these countries develop carbon-intensive economies and opening valuable markets for clean energy companies in the U.S. and abroad.
"An international agency pushing renewable energy technologies around the globe, not just in the rich, developed world, will help close the ‘clean energy divide’ that could doom our planet to the worst impacts of global warming," Markey said.
The agency would support governments in drafting renewable energy policies and programs, organizing training programs, supporting innovative financing mechanisms and developing international quality standards.
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