The economic benefits of addressing climate change and moving to clean energy were enormous, said Phillip A. Min, US Consul General, on Friday.
Addressing students of city colleges at a meeting organised by Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College here, the Consul General said that in addition to creating more jobs, reducing energy costs and maximising profits, clean energy would mean gains through reduced healthcare costs and increased productivity in the long run. The United States had made progress, with key partners like India, on renewable energy deployment, hydrofluorocarbon emissions, vehicle emission standards, energy efficiency and clean energy initiatives. As a result, its carbon pollution was near its lowest level in almost two decades even as the US economy had grown by 60 per cent.
Mr. Phillip pointed out that India had just submitted its national plan for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought to cut the intensity of carbon emissions by 33 to 35 per cent and boost renewable energy capacity to 40 per cent by 2030. Green technologies, he said, would have a profound impact on overall goals of upgrading India’s infrastructure and improving the quality of life of its people.
Turning to Madurai, the Consul General said that loss of its agricultural base would harm the growing industrial base. But its newest economic base, the high tech industry, would bring many of the long-term solutions to climate change. President Obama and Mr. Modi recognised that global climate change was a profound threat to humanity and to sustainable development and eradication of poverty. Mr. Phillip also interacted with students on opportunities in higher education in the US.
Earlier, addressing a meeting at the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday, the Consul General expressed confidence that the Indo-US bilateral trade would increase substantially shortly, given the healthy relationship between the two countries. The US government had formed 30 working groups to study various aspects of the Indo-US relationship, especially bilateral trade, and recommend measures to enhance them.
