LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.--In the absence of leadership from the federal government, businesses are the best vehicle for slowly transitioning society away from fossil fuels.
That's one of the themes from the Fortune Brainstorm Green this week, a conference to explore environmental sustainability at corporations.
Innovation is the only way to address the "technology gap" that exists between the price of fossil fuels and clean-energy technologies, such as solar, wind, and electric vehicles, said Michael Shellenberger, the president of the Breakthrough Institute.
"This huge gulf that still exists between fossil fuels and clean tech has got to be overcome to do anything about climate," Shellenberger said. "We can make low-carbon, less polluting technologies a lot cheaper through innovation." Policies geared at raising fossil fuel prices are unlikely to work, but he suggested a combination of policies, such as military procurement and government programs to accelerate technology development, could bring down the cost of alternatives.
There was clear consensus among attendees that the federal government is not going to pass a comprehensive energy law in the near future to mandate more renewable energy or have big polluters pay for carbon emissions. The previous Congress failed to pass a climate and energy law and this Congress is attempting to scale back the Environmental Protection Agency's powers on air pollutants.
If there won't be bold action on global warming, the thinking goes, people can still agree that the government can play a role advancing clean-energy technologies.
"There's a recognition that we need to put more money into technology," said Jim Rogers, the CEO of utility Duke Energy. "The best hope for the next couple of years at least is that investing in more technology will allow us to provide carbon-free electricity in a more affordable way."
Greening of business
Corporations are vital to getting green technologies into the market either by being customers or when they develop products of their own. Nicholas Parker, the chairman of researcher the Cleantech Group, noted in a session that corporations are becoming active investors in green-tech start-ups.
Many technologies, such as more efficiency lighting and fuel-saving hybrids, are attractive because they improve productivity or save businesses money. Wal-Mart's high-profile sustainability program, for example, has saved the company money and generated revenue through selling products, such as compact fluorescent bulbs.
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