THE ENERGY DAILY Friday, January 24, 1992

Role
Climate Coalition's Shlaes Seeks Major
national relations,"
A black belt in Tae
says Shlaes. In the fuKwon Do, John Shlaes
In Global, Domestic ture,
energy and enviis well-prepared to deronmental affairs will
fend himself in the conGreenhouse Debates play an increasingly
tentious global warming
important

role in the
policy battles that loom
BY DENNIS WAMSTED
policy debates formerly
on the horizon. But
couched in Cold War terms, he says. In addition, the
Shlaes, the newly appointed executive director of the
United Nations likely will become more important as a
Global Climate Coalition says he would rather talk than
focal point for these debates. The coalition hopes to
fight.
participate in this transition. "We're not a one-shot
"Business needs a voice" in the debate, Shlaes told
group," he adds.
The Energy Daily in an interview last week just beOne of the key issues for the coalition, according to
fore his appointment was officially announced. And
Shlaes, will be developing a solution for the thorny ishe hopes that the three-year-old, 46-member coalition
sue of technology transfer. There are a host of existing
will provide that voice.
and soon-to-be-commercialized technologies in the deShlaes' appointment is the culmination of a roughly
veloped world that could help slow any future Warmyear-long effort by the coalition to formalize its organizational structure and begin
ing due to the greenhouse effect if
playing a more aggressive role in
transferred for use in the developthe global warming debate. Foring, he says. But, by and large,
merly an all-volunteer group that
the developing world cannot afgranted membership to any comford to purchase these technolopany or association that contrigies. The question, then, is how
buted $100, the coalition last fall
to ensure that these technologies
approved a series of proposals to
are used, while still compensating
raise the membership dues and
businesses for their research and
hire a full-time staff in Washingdevelopment efforts.
ton to represent business and inThe first step in this effort
dustry interests.
likely will be increased technoloThere are clear parallels begy cooperation between busitween the current initiative and
nesses in the developed world and
the business community's degovernments and business
cision to hire Bill Fay from the
counterparts in the developing
National Coal Association to run
world. Another important piece
the Clean Air Working Group
to this puzzle is the Global Enviduring the congressional debate
ronmental Facility, an internaJohn Shlaes, executive director
in the 1980s to reauthorize the
tional
monetary device that can
Coalition
Climate
of the Global
Clean Air Act. But Shlaes conbe used to fund promising techare
mistends that the parallels
nology transfer efforts, he says.
leading.
Another
challenge
for the business community,
than
will
be
broader-based
The Climate Coalition
Shlaes says, is to ensure that U.S. government efforts
CAWG and focused on a range of issues instead of
are not duplicative. Along these lines, the coalition
just the Clean Air Act, he says. Shlaes also discounts
concerns that the coalition will become a just say no
sponsored a conference last year to educate officials
group interested solely in derailing consideration of
from various federal departments about work elseglobal warming legislation. "How can you stop the
where in the government and by outside groups. The
process when you don't even know what the process
coalition plans to pursue similar informational and
is?" he asks.
educational efforts in the future, he says.
Still, the coalition will be involved in both the
Shlaes was most recently director of government
national and international negotiations on global
relations at the Edison Electric Institute; he has workwarming, he adds. "Business should be a deliberant in
the [international] debate," says Shlaes, since the outed at EEI since 1979. Previously, Shlaes worked in
come will have a significant impact on the communithe Ford White House and at the U.S. Information
ty's future operations. The coalition also will be acAgency and the Peace Corps, among other jobs. He
tively involved in the domestic legislative debate, he
is a graduate of the University of Southern Califorsays.
nia.
Although new to the scene, the coalition plans to be
Initially, the coalition will be housed in offices at
around for a longtime, continues Shlaes. "This issue
the National Association of Manufacturing. Alis a long-term issue," he says, adding that the June '92
though Shlaes has been selected to head the coalition,
conference in Brazil—where a global climate change
at press time the EEI executive still had not signed the
treaty may be signed by world leaders—will be just the
beginning of a lengthy debate on energy and environcontract offered him by the group's board of direcmental issues.
tors.
"We really are moving into a new era in inter-