A Conversation with Bill Clinton about Climate

Having heard President Clinton speak a few times while he was President, it was inspiring to have a conversation with him on Saturday (July 2) after his unscheduled presentation at the Aspen Ideas Festival

A handful of us were talking after listening to his view of the 2012 election: Obama Administration success stories, observations on the Republican field, and calculations regarding Hispanic votes. I then solicited his thoughts on climate. He had just explained the critical importance of generating and managing uncertainty as a tool for political power.

I asked if he thought this ‘uncertainty principle’ could also be applied to generate support for successful climate and energy policy. After a brief pause, as his famous piercing blue eyes narrowed slightly, he said, “yes, I do.” He talked quickly and intensely about the importance of a single line in the stimulus legislation that Republican leaders have targeted. The fight is over $2 billion that has helped jump-start electric-vehicle battery manufacturing in the United States. (According to DOE, the 26 plants now operating will have capacity to meet 20 percent of global market demand in 2012).

A passionate advocate for aligning economic growth, “green jobs” and reducing carbon, Clinton then looked around, lowered his voice and leaned in to speak with the four of us in a huddle (perhaps because Chris Matthews and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi might otherwise have overheard his next point). Pointing again to the new jobs created in the automobile battery sector with federal support over the last 18 months, he said “and they are worried that we really will generate the jobs with these investments…and that’s why they killed it.” He then raised his eyebrows evocatively, “Got it?”

We then shook hands with the 42nd President of the United States, as he thanked us for coming and for the questions we posed.  With nothing to gain and no votes to solicit, Bill Clinton still left us all feeling that we had had a few moments with one of the truly commanding leaders of our age.

Leaders Today

Leaders today can little afford to be mere experts. Effective decision-making demands of leaders that we move fluidly and confidently across issues rather than be constrained by what we know. Making decisions with access to all the information required is easy. But leadership is about making the right decision in the face of limited or conflicting information.

• How can we see over the horizon to plan for emerging issues before they impact the bottom line?

• When traditional research approaches aren’t helping clarify a decision, what outside-the-box approaches will help?

• If we do what we measure, but we are not fundamentally in the business of sustainability, how de we embed metrics that make sense?

• How do we drive change, and preserve our organizational identify?

• What’s the effective way to asses an NGO/Corporate partnership to see if it really makes sense?

Whether we term it marketing or outreach, how do we effectively engage citizens (or consumers) beyond those that already know us and support us?

Call it sales, call it advocacy; we are all in the business of communications. And reaching across traditional divides is critical to addressing the great challenges of our age.

There is no such thing as climate policy without energy policy. Without addressing poverty, sustainable agriculture will never reach its promise of feeding not only this but also the next generation. Water issues are central to political, financial, health, and geographic realities and possibilities.

Are you Handling or Mishandling the Climate Challenge?

The issue of our time is framed for failure. Climate change is the norm and everyone experiences it daily; the weather changes. Climate stability, however, is the goal – for people, business, and global ecosystems. We need predictable climatic conditions to make good decisions – whether to make major capital investments or whether to carry an umbrella.

And the climate is not an environmental issue but rather the connective tissue that ties energy together with business, development and poverty with agriculture, and health with the environment. No mere question of semantics, the fundamental definition of the challenge has immense impact on how we work to develop solutions.

The challenge is not fundamentally science, finance, or even policy. Rather, we lack the thinking and the institutions capable of effectively responding to an issue that cuts across so many traditionally distinct areas of expertise – especially when compounded by issues of risk allocation and intergenerational financial equity.

Are you handling or mishandling the climate challenge?