Iceland’s President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson met authorities in Washington DC yesterday to discuss a potential cooperation between Iceland and the US on renewable energy.
According to mbl.is, Grímsson and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, discussed Iceland’s contribution to environmentally friendly energy, including geothermal, and the possibility of harnessing such energy in the US.
A potential cooperation between Iceland and the US on environmental and energy issues was also discussed. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, attended the meeting between Grímsson and Pelosi.
Geothermal energy was also a topic of discussion between Grímsson and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who comes from Nevada where there is geothermal energy. He has lobbied for harnessing such energy in the US.
Grímsson and 2008 presidential hopeful Barack Obama also discussed a potential cooperation between Iceland and the US, and the possibility of opening an international university and research center at the formal US Naval Air Station near Keflavík, Iceland.
Obama said he was interested in visiting Iceland to learn more about how the country switched from coal and oil to renewable energy.
Iceland’s president also met Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, senators Tom Harkin and Jon Tester, Rick Boucher, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Ed Markey, chairman of the newly formed House Panel on Global Warming.
A committee from the House Panel on Global Warming is planning a trip to Arctic areas in the next few months, mbl.is reports.
