Experts believe ex-utility executive a wise choice as commerce secretary

NEW YORK / BEIJING - United States President Barack Obama's selection of John Bryson, the former Southern California utility executive, as commerce secretary speaks to the White House's push to develop clean and renewable energy industries in the US and develop a stronger partnership with China in the energy sector, experts said.

"China has been surging ahead on clean energy with the understanding that investments in the energy sector will lead to economic prosperity. I think the US can really learn from this . It is in danger of losing its competitive edge because of the lack of clean energy policies," said Rebecca Lefton, policy analyst at Center for American Progress.

In selecting Bryson, 67, Obama chose a private sector executive who has the support of the US business community and helped lead Edison International as CEO for 18 years to the top of the solar and wind-power industries. Bryson's selection is subject to Senate confirmation.

Since last September, Bryson has been chairman of BrightSource Energy Inc in Northern California. The company makes solar power plants and is seeking to use solar-thermal technology to generate vast amounts of power. Early in his career, Bryson was the co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national and international environment group.

It is this expertise in the clean energy sector that Obama noted when he nominated Bryson. Obama added that the development of clean and renewable energy will help improve US export competitiveness.

Lefton said China-US collaboration on clean energy represents a win-win for the two countries.

"There is a great relationship that has already been developed on clean energy, and we hope it will continue to develop. It's really important to watch how these two countries will work together," Lefton said.

Lefton said these deals are a positive step, but that the US needs to strengthen and enact clean energy policies.

Melinda Kimble, senior vice-president of United Nations Foundation, said Bryson's selection was an encouraging sign that Obama will seek avenues of innovation in the alternative energy sector to boost manufacturing and exports.

"But we need to first improve our clean energy policies and change our infrastructure and adapt to a new system that encourages clean energy investment. These new approaches will naturally generate employment," she said.

Bryson's pending nomination will be a step toward leveraging the private sector's participation in clean energy technologies, said David Burwell, director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment.

Burwell said it is possible to achieve the 2020 goal of 17-percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that the US committed to at the Copenhagen climate talks, but it will require significant participation from the private sector.

"The Obama administration's goal is for Bryson to engage and stimulate the private sector to move. We got a very good candidate to meet the job. It's a good news for the US, China and low-carbon economy," Burwell said.

Joe Romm, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said that a collaboration between China and the US is very important.

"The US and China are the biggest energy users. We are the biggest generators of greenhouse gases, so we have an obligation to employ clean energy technologies. Obviously, China has a very aggressive policy on alternative energy. There's a lot of opportunities for the US and China to collaborate," Romm said.

The US energy sector could benefit if Bryson's focus includes more than utility-scale projects that are either land-intensive or polluting, said Kyle Ash, senior legislative representative of Greenpeace USA.

"Because the secretary of commerce can influence how we invest in energy, he would be right also to promote adding flexibility and decentralized power generation to the grid," Ash said.

In talks with China about energy, the Obama administration has emphasized fossil fuels and nuclear. Ash said Bryson can help the Obama administration's priorities in bilateral energy cooperation become "more in line with Obama's professed goal that US energy both cost and pollute less".

On the other hand, a new nominee will not be able to make a raft of changes to the US' development, said Ge Yong at the Institute for Environment and Development, a Beijing-based NGO.

That relationship was jumpstarted by a 2009 meeting between Obama and President Hu Jintao. The two signed a joint statement that recognized the importance for both economies to transition to green and low-carbon economies, which in turn would create jobs.

Then this January, the two leaders coordinated numerous deals worth more than $45 billion between US and Chinese energy companies.

China Daily