CLARIFICATION APPENDED

The unlikely combination of President John W. Rowe of Exelon Corporation, one of America’s largest electrical companies, speaking on the future of sustainable energy drew a packed audience in Science Center D yesterday afternoon.

“Asking a chief executive officer to come talk about sustainable energy is a little bit like asking a sailor to go the Vatican to talk about the creation of heaven and earth,” Rowe said. “There might be more vernacular than new revelation.”

Regardless, the “urgency” of the climate change crisis and the distressing “lack of an energy policy” forced Exelon to re-examine its relationship with energy, Rowe said.

“We at Exelon take the need for action as a given,” Rowe said. “We believe it should start soon.”

To this effect, Exelon created a document that commits itself to “reduce, displace, offset, or otherwise neutralize [its] entire carbon footprint by 2020.” It is also meant to be a set of recommendations for future public policy legislation.

The document tempers sustainability concerns with economic pragmatism.

“The demands of our nation must be met with the least possible impact on climate,” Rowe said. “And yet at the same time they must be met with the least possible burden on the economy.”

There are five key components to Exelon’s plan: enact mandatory climate legislation in the form of a cap and trade policy very soon, enhance energy efficiency, encourage renewables with tax credits, fund research and development in coal and carbon recapture, and stay true to competitive markets.

In particular, Rowe said he strongly favored expansion of nuclear and energy efficiency technologies berating other utility companies’ unrelenting commitment to coal as “low-class.”

Also, while in favor of renewable energy innovation, Rowe said the current prices of energy-per-kilowatt hour of wind and solar make them economically infeasible. Wind energy, currently the cheapest renewable energy source, is twice as expensive as nuclear energy. [SEE CLARIFICATION BELOW]

Rowe emphasized that a commitment from both the government and the public will be necessary for a sustainable future.

For the government, it must come in two forms, he said, that of “stick” regulations and “carrots” investment in research and development.

As for the public, they must be willing to accept somewhat imperfect solutions, Rowe said.

“It’s one thing to say abstractly that we favor nuclear or windmills, but it’s another thing to support it anywhere near you,” Rowe said. “We can’t afford this ‘not-in-my-backyard’ syndrome that Americans have been accustomed to.”

—Staff writer Natasha S. Whitney can be reached at nwhitney@fas.harvard.edu.

CLARIFICATION

The Oct. 6 story, "Exelon Head Speaks on Energy," stated that wind energy is twice as expensive as nuclear energy. In fact, the speaker did not state that wind power costs twice as much to produce as nuclear power on a kilowatt-hour basis, but that wind energy costs twice as much as nuclear when considering the cost of abating a ton of carbon dioxide.