North American leaders sign bold clean energy pledge

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday met in Canada for the North American Leaders’ Summit, where the trio decided on sweeping energy goals.

The trio pledged in a joint statement to use “clean power generation” to produce 50 percent of North America’s energy by 2025.

They noted that solar, hydropower, wind and nuclear energy are renewable energy sources, while fossil fuels and coal – energy sources that contribute to human-driven global warming – are methods that need to be diminished.

The White House estimates North America currently draws 37 percent of its energy from renewable sources. According to the Global Carbon Atlas, a non-governmental organization dedicated to environmental research, North America is ranked second among continents for carbon dioxide emissions, a byproduct of fossil fuels that are largely considered the major driver of climate change.

Asia, with major fuel consumers including China, India and Russia, is the only continent that emits more carbon dioxide.

“Together, we estimate that the development of current and future projects and policies to achieve this goal will create thousands of clean jobs and support of our vision for a clean growth economy,” the trio said in the statement.

Large scale cross-border clean energy transmission projects are a major focus of the leaders’ goal. Three such projects were specified: one that connects Quebec and New England, one between Manitoba to Minnesota and one from Texas to Mexico.

Another part of the pledge aimed to power 100 percent of government operations using renewable energy in all three countries by 2025.