A pump jack operates at a well site leased by Devon Energy ProductionCompany near Guthrie, Oklahoma in this September 15, 2015.(REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo)
By BETTY L. MARTIN
HOUSTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump administration's plans to lift government regulations and environmental protections on fossil fuel was good for the economy, two U.S. senators said here.
Senior U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said last Friday, March 10, at the end of IHS CERA week that they were looking forward for less restrictive policies that would allow greater oil exploration, production and delivery systems, including approval of controversial pipelines.
"We're going to roll back some of what I see as an overreach by the previous (President Barrack Obama's) administration," Cornyn said, citing Trump's lifting of a crude oil ban on and proposed changes in fuel standards. "It's nice to have an administration that actually believes in the energy industry."
"We're planning how we access our federal lands, with more available for (harvesting) resources," Murkowski said.
A Friday panel was composed of energy company and agency heads from countries who signed, along with the United States, the Paris Agreement last year, a commitment to reduce carbon emissions over a period of time to aid in combating global warming -- an agreement from which Trump has vowed to withdraw -- say there is enough support from remaining signatories to ensure its success.
"We managed to sign an agreement. It was historical. Big difference was not just a political agenda, but from countries with cities where 80 percent of the emissions occur," said Ignacio Galan, chairman and chief executive officer of Iberdrole.
"I've been attending (environmental) meetings and I've seen companies where they have already pushed the politicians to move in the direction to lessen climate change. The U.S. is no different than the world," he added.
He cited the United States' billions of dollars in investments in clean energy, along with China's.
"Their companies want more sustainable, cleaner, better conditions than we have been getting," Galan said. "In India, economics make a lot of coal-powered plants, but today, they are looking at cleaner energy, which is also cheaper."
Iberdrole is the second largest provider of windmill grids in the United States, Galan said, saying that the company has invested 4 billion U.S. dollars on non-fossil-based energy in the past four years.
Carlos Pascual, senior vice president and chair of IHS Markit said that while oil prices go up and down and electricity is dependent on resources, use of digitalization is creating more efficient energy for emerging companies in Africa, Southeast Asia.
"Fifty percent of our business is in China. Our company has decided to become carbon neutral in the next 10 years," said Pascual, who lives in Chinese mainland. "Thirty percent of our business is digital technology, insertion of intelligence sources.
He said China is on pace where 70 percent of its energy source is coal, but will be 40 percent by 2040. "We do a lot in China, working on efficiency incentives, renewables and electric mobility and more distribution."
Jaime Francisco Hernandez Martinez, Chief Executive Officer of Comision Federal de Electricida, said that Mexico has reduced its carbon emissions by 40 percent in the past five years by transferring from coal to cleaner, renewable energy.
"It's a great time to invest in Mexico," he said. "We are closing the gap in price of renewable energy with the U.S... We now have 180 electricity plants, distribution of more than 800,000 kilometers. We are transforming the company and the country, looking forward to a more comfortable, cleaner, competitive energy."
Martinez said that for the first time in Mexico's history, even the most remote areas of the country has electricity, a market created by the government and private participation and one of several five-to-10-year projects that includes Mexico-produced natural gas flowing through 26 pipelines and other renewables.
"We have established a level of 10 to 11 percent emissions, far from the goal of six percent, but we are promoting 6 billion (U.S. dollars) in the next five years on clean energy," Martinez said.
Jean-Paul Tricolne, chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric, which works with more than 100 countries and partners on various types of energy, carbon-based to digital technology, including China.
"We partner to bring more efficiency in our relationship with customers, to bring those solutions," Tricolne said.
"China is very, very keen on more efficiency going into the mix of supply. We have customers come to us to resource renewables. It's about competitiveness and being credible with customers of today."
