Gov. Jim Doyle and top German officials made an agreement Tuesday to jointly combat climate change.
Doyle, German Minister for the Environment Sigmar Gabriel and German Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement at a conference on climate and energy in Berlin.
During the conference, the Transatlantic Climate and Energy Initiative was launched. The initiative supports partnerships that enable the exchange of expertise about clean-energy technology.
The agreement acknowledged that climate change and dependence on fossil fuels necessitate immediate action and international cooperation.
Taking on the challenge of climate change, improving our energy security and growing jobs in a clean-energy economy are all closely linked, and it is imperative that we build the partnerships necessary to advance this work,"" Doyle said in a statement. ""Germany and Wisconsin have strong bonds, and we look forward to strengthening our combined efforts to confront climate change and our energy policies.""
Doyle spokesperson Lee Sensenbrenner said Wisconsin industries and German clean-energy companies are taking the issue of global warming into their own hands.
""In the last few years, states haven't waited for the federal government to act. They've pursued agreements and strategies to meet [climate] goals through agreements like this,"" Sensenbrenner said.
