Not long ago, Denmark
was making headlines for harvesting so much wind power that it was
leading the way in generating renewable energy, while becoming a center
of innovation and growth for green and clean technology.
Read more: Denmark, a Green Energy Leader, Slows Pace of Its Spending - The New York Times
Then,
in June, a center-left government was replaced by a right-wing,
minority coalition determined to tighten spending and balance the budget
in a program to improvethe economy.
The
budget cuts include a key fund that was used to seed green technology
projects — a government subsidy that environmental advocates said had
paid itself off many times over.
“This
funding has proven instrumental for Danish advances in clean tech for
many years, and it is incomprehensible why it is being cut now,” said
Soren Houmoller, whose 1st Mile consulting company helps businesses
apply for public funds in Denmark.
Mette Abildgaard, a spokeswoman for green energy affairs for the
opposition Danish Conservative People’s Party, said the timing of the
cuts was disappointing.
“I
believe this is a very bad signal to be sending the world, for Denmark
to be taking a step backwards just before the Paris climate summit,” she
said last month.
The
debate going on in Denmark may serve as a cautionary tale for leaders
of the 195 countries now meeting in Paris and trying to reach a global
deal to rein in dangerous greenhouse gases that have been linked to climate change.
Should
the negotiators be able to put aside their conflicting agendas, and
sign an accord when the talks end this week, they will then face another
challenge: meeting their national goals.
One
lesson they may learn from Denmark is how it is possible to
substantially replace fossil fuels with clean and renewable energy. But
even when progress is made in reducing environmentally harmful carbon
emissions, countries may have difficulty sustaining the gains because of
politics, economic concerns and, in places like the United States,
ideological disputes.
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