DURHAM -- This weekend governors from across the South are gathering in Alabama for their annual conference, and the topic of energy will undoubtedly come up. When it does, at least one governor will likely state, once again, that the South will suffer under new clean energy policies such as a renewable energy standard or a price on carbon.
This will ignore the transformation taking place across the region and reinforce a stereotype that no longer applies. The South does not lag behind other regions of the country in regard to innovation and clean energy. In fact, the South has the infrastructure necessary to become a leader in the emerging clean energy economy.
In a July 2010 report, Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions found that, as a whole, the Southeast region appears on par with other regions in establishing local sustainability and energy offices to carry out these efforts. We found that nearly half of major Southeastern cities have offices or managers paving the way to cleaner local economies, and nearly half track the greenhouse gas emissions of their cities.
Not only is the South keeping pace with other regions, in many ways, it is leading. A recent ranking of alternative energy leaders had four Southern states - Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina - in the top 10. Major clean energy manufacturing facilities are springing up throughout the region. Arkansas and South Carolina are fast becoming key players in the wind industry, and Twin Creek Solar is building a solar panel manufacturing facility in Senatobia, Miss. This project represents an investment of $175 million and is expected to create 512 jobs in the next five years.
This is all happening while the United States is falling farther behind other countries, such as China, in private investment of clean energy. Many analysts believe investment would favor the U.S. should strong federal policies regarding clean energy use be put in place. When that occurs, the South is positioned to see explosive growth in clean energy investment because the infrastructure already exists.
This should not be surprising. Clean energy will be driven by research and innovation, and the South has a robust history of connecting knowledge to industry. Two of the world's largest and most storied research parks are in Alabama and North Carolina.
But citizens and policymakers are unlikely to rally behind an initiative when they have long been told it will be more difficult for them than it will be for others . Continually stating that the Southeast is far behind other regions and ill-equipped to survive the transition to a clean-energy economy threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The South has enjoyed competitive advantages of cheap power, available water and inexpensive real estate to fuel its economic development. Those advantages will fade without a diverse portfolio of energy sources. Relying solely on multibillion-dollar new nuclear and coal plants to meet our energy needs will substantially raise electric rates, consume billions of gallons of water and erode our competitive advantage. Numerous studies, including three released by the Nicholas Institute in the last year, indicate the South has the resources to comfortably comply with greater restrictions on carbon intensive fuels.
This is not to say it will be easy. True change and real progress never are. But the benefits have the potential to transform the South. It is time to re-evaluate conventional wisdom and instead consider the possibility that the Southeast is poised to be a leader in the emerging green economy.
Todd Wooten is the director of the Southeast Climate Resource Center at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
