OTTAWA — Former U.S. ambassador David Jacobson is optimistic about progress in global efforts to tackle climate change. Recently in Ottawa to attend a panel discussion on climate and energy policies, organized by the Canada 2020 think-tank, Jacobson said some attitudes are shifting and U.S. President Barack Obama is prepared to take action.
Jacobson, who sat down with Postmedia News to talk about the political challenges surrounding the issue, expressed frustration about partisan debates preventing progress in the U.S. Congress. He didn’t want to speculate about the ongoing review of the Keystone XL pipeline expansion project, but noted that an evaluation is underway to look at whether it could exacerbate carbon emissions in the atmosphere.
But he has concerns that “climate-change deniers” are confusing the public about the basic facts and empirical evidence about the entire global warming issue.
Here’s an edited transcript of the interview.
Q: What kind of public appetite is there for action on climate change right now in the United States?
A: I think an important piece of the reason that the attitudes in the United States are less favourable toward this issue (than in Canada) is because the climate change issue has become hyper partisan. And the reason is there are an awful lot of folks in the United States who hear climate change deniers talking about how this whole thing is a hoax. And even regarding the empirical questions, just the facts, some folks are a little bit mixed up. So I think, to me, the most interesting political issue on this is the impact that the political process seems to be having on the perceptions and the opinions of Americans.
Q: Would Canada showing leadership have an impact on what the U.S. does?
A: To the extent that (if one country) does more, I think there is a perception in the other country that they’re with the program. And again, I talked earlier about the irony on this: that Canadians seemed to be more concerned on these issues than Americans seem to be. And I think if that’s well known, that will have an impact on the perceptions in the United States of how Canadians perceive climate change.
Q: In terms of the problem itself, you’ve mentioned the oilsands and how polls show Canadians have concerns about climate change. How concerned do you think the White House is now about the oilsands.
A: The one thing I can assure you of is that the president, the secretary of state and I am very concerned, just as the Canadian people are in (public opinion polls), with climate change. This is an important issue and it’s an issue that we all have to wrestle with and we have to figure out the right balance between our need for energy, which keeps the lights on in here, and keeps the heat on, because it’s getting cold outside, and our concern that we don’t wreck the climate and wreck the environment for our children and our grandchildren.
Q: How would you characterize the U.S. industry’s openness to regulations?
A: I think that the industry, like the public, is probably divided. And I can say this based on a number of conversations that I’ve had. There are some incredibly enlightened leaders in the energy industry, across North America and they understand the concern with carbon emissions.
There are some who, particularly on the climate change front, don’t buy it. But my sense is that balance is tipping, and that as a new generation of leaders come into the energy industry, particularly a younger generation of leaders, that they aren’t just saying that they’re doing these things for PR purposes. They are saying it because they believe it. They understand that if they do these things because they’re the right things to do, because they’re the responsible things to do, because they’re what they want to do to protect their families, that a lot of these issues will work out better.
Q: So do you think the Obama administration will have success when it wants to introduce its own oil and gas regulations?
A: There are two separate issues. One is, whether there’s a climate among the American people. Perhaps climate is not the right word. But is there a desire among the American people and are things going to get through Congress? Some of these things, the president can do without any additional congressional authorities. Some of them, he can’t. Congress, because it has the power of the purse, is able to meddle in all kinds of things. As we’ve seen, with respect to universal background checks for purchases of guns, 90 per cent of the American people were in favour of it and it didn’t pass. So sometimes, the political process, at least in the short term, is not as responsive as it ought to be. So we’re just going to have to see what happens.
Q: Are you optimistic about how the world is handling the challenge of climate change.
A: I think that in difficult times, as we’ve gone through over the last few years, it becomes harder to deal with some of these other issues. On the other hand, as I said, there is a perception that is changing, and this isn’t going to turn around overnight. It won’t, it can’t and you couldn’t deal with it anyway even if it did. But I do sense a shift. I sense that we’re moving in the right direction. Are we moving as quickly as some might want? No. Are we moving faster than others might want? Yes, probably. But we’re moving in the right direction and that makes me optimistic and things like the Canada 2020 study that we’re here to talk about today are evidence of that.
