In addition to Kennedy, who serves as President of the US-based Waterkeeper Alliance, the new board members are Jeffrey Byron, Commissioner of the California Energy Commission in the US, Rick DeGolia, Executive Chairman of InVisM Inc., Mark Fulton, a Managing Director, Global Head of Climate Change Investment Research, DB Climate Changer Advisors, a member of the Deutsche Bank Group, and Felix Kramer, Founder of the California Cars Initiative.
The addition of the new members brings to 16 the total number of advisory board members serving the coalition, which is based in Palo Alto, California in the US.
According to the organization, the appointment of the five will substantially further its efforts to implement global best practices for scaling cost-effective renewable energy throughout the US, and at the local state and federal levels.
“In 2011, the FIT Coalition will be working to advance state‐wide Feed‐In Tariff legislation in California, as well as in several other states,” explained Craig Lewis, the coalition’s Executive Director.
“These five new board of advisors members help to increase the FIT Coalition’s effectiveness throughout the country and provide diverse representation for our important work of advancing the new clean energy economy,” he said, adding, “I am honoured to be collaborating with nationally recognized leaders from extremely diverse realms.”
Lewis noted these realms span the gamut from investment banking and venture capitalism to grass-root environmentalism.
Explaining his own reasons for joining the board, Kennedy said the simple truth is he wholeheartedly agrees with the coalition’s mission.
“If our country is going to be competitive over the coming decades, we must embrace clean energy,” Kennedy said. “We must transition our nation away from fossil fuels and quickly implement policies that support the growth of clean energy sources. The time is now, and the FIT Coalition is a leading organization in achieving these urgent goals through badly needed policy innovation.”
For his part, Fulton said public policy is a huge factor in DB Climate Change Advisors investment strategy.
“Around the globe, we have seen policies that work and those that fail, and it is only policies that demonstrate what we term TLC -- Transparency, Longevity and Certainty -- that can truly stimulate private investment,” Fulton said.
“The FIT Coalition promotes policies with strong ‘TLC’ known for advancing the clean energy sector and spurring job creation,” he said.
Speaking from a regulatory perspective, Energy Commissioner Byron said that for renewable energy to succeed in competing with traditional sources of energy, “government must implement the right policies to encourage market growth and competition.”
That theme was picked up by DeGolia, a well-known Silicon Valley capitalist, who said that while the renewable energy sector has inspired the formation of scores of start-up companies, the barriers to entry into the solar, wind and other renewably energy sectors remain high.
“I like what the FIT Coalition is doing to work toward removing barriers by implementing the right policies to accelerate the renewable energy marketplace. Lending my expertise to their effort is a no‐brainer,” DeGolia said.
Kramer, a long-time advocate for plug-in hybrids, said the vehicles “have an enormous value on their own, and the sooner we deliver electricity from renewable sources, the greater the benefits”.
He also opined that, “as we move vehicles away from petroleum, their batteries when parked can become available to the grid”.
“This can help scale intermittent renewable energy sources, speeding our move away from the grid's dependence on other fossil fuels. I support the FIT Coalition's farsighted advocacy for the best policies to quickly scale clean energy development,” he said.
The FIT Coalition is currently focused on implementing Feed‐In Tariffs among other global best practices to propel clean energy production in the US.
A written statement from the organization said it believes Feed‐In Tariffs are the most effective, proven policy for bringing massive amounts of clean, renewable energy online.
“By unleashing the Wholesale Distributed Generation market segment, Feed‐In Tariffs have driven the majority of all renewable energy that has been deployed in the world and are responsible for almost 90% of the solar capacity brought online in 2009,” the statement said.
For additional information:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
