During a recent visit to Dominica, former US president Bill Clinton said that he believes that Dominica, and the Caribbean could become a global benchmark for renewable energy development:

Former United States president Bill Clinton Tuesday said Caribbean countries could lead the global initiative for developing cleaner energy, reducing the threat of climate change and improving the economies of developing countries.

Clinton, who arrived in Dominica for talks with prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit and members of his administration, said Norway has been instrumental in assisting his foundation in developing the new energy initiative.

“They believed when we first asked them that Dominica in particular and the Caribbean in general could lead the world to a whole new way of producing clean power, reducing the threat of climate change and improving the economies of developing countries.”

Clinton said he also bought into the idea that the Caribbean could become the first sustainable region in the world and is supportive of Dominica’s efforts to become the first totally climate resilient country.

…

The former US president said young people now have a chance to prove “beginning in Dominica that the Caribbean can be more prosperous by building resilient homes and structures, more prosperous with more plentiful wind power sold at lower costs which will actually make the utility more money because you will have more users.

“In other words you can change the whole pre-conception,” he said, adding, “I have watched country after country in the Caribbean held back with the highest electricity rates in the world because they insisted on continuing years after they should have the old model of importing heavy oil or diesel when they were ample solar, wind and in your case geothermal.”

Read more in the full article from Barbados Today.

[Image via @SkerritR on Twitter]