Greetings from Copenhagen.  Although the media has focused on the anarchist protests and the subsequent pepper spraying and clubbing, the truth is that real negotiations are moving forward.  And we have had great success conveying the message that solar is ready now to do more to reduce harmful pollution while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. and around the world.

Yesterday we hosted two events to educate delegates about the potential of solar energy. The first focused on how solar can help the U.S. reduce energy-related carbon emissions by 10 percent by 2020.  During the second event, we joined with others in the global solar community - the European Photovoltaic Industry Association and the Alliance for Rural Electrification - to release a report entitled "Seizing the Solar Solution: Combating Climate Change Through Accelerated Deployment." It defines targets for solar installations by 2020, which policies will be needed to reach the targets, how many jobs will be created, and how much polluting emissions will be avoided.

As you can see from the chart below, the U.S. solar industry can meet 15 percent of our nation's electricity needs by the end of the next decade. In 2020, we can provide 12 percent of our nation's electricity through photovoltaic solar and concentrating solar power. Another 3 percent of electricity demand can be displaced by solar thermal technologies for water and space heating and space cooling. For the U.S. alone, this means 880,000 new U.S. jobs and a reduction of at least 570 million metric tons of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere.

It's great to have targets, but the question is, how do we get there?  SEIA hosted an official UNFCCC press briefing yesterday to discuss how we can meet these targets. Right now, we don't have the right policies. Putting a price on pollution is important, but we need to go back to our respective countries and do the hard work needed to enact policies on the national level.

For the U.S., those policies are outlined in the Solar Bill of Rights (http://www.solarbillofrights.com). We're here in Copenhagen talking with U.S. delegation members about these eight rights that will give the solar industry a competitive environment with fossil fuels and get more solar technology deployed sooner.

Today we are participating in the U.N. plenary session where various heads of state are addressing the delegates about their concerns for climate change and how to address it. Earlier today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered remarks at the negotiations. She made it clear that the U.S. is committed to move forward and pursue the best possible outcome in Copenhagen.

In her press conference at the Bella Center, Secretary Clinton outlined the U.S. negotiating position, and announced the U.S. willingness to contribute to a global effort to finance $100 billion annually by 2020 to address climate change mitigation and adaptation, a large part of which will be deployment of renewable energy.  In so doing, the U.S. indicated the funding is contingent on the commitment of transparency by all countries. Secretary Clinton spoke very strongly that countries at the G-8 and MEF in the past months had committed to actions that included transparency, and any moves to back away from this commitment as countries work to define transparency in an operational manner would undermine the entire efforts of the negotiations.  She also mentioned that China needs to rejoin the effort and start playing a constructive role.  And as a country China will become the largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind turbines in 2010, meaning it has a lot to gain economically.

The U.S. solar industry is committed to continue working with our sister organizations in China and India to help move an agreement forward.