* Washington hard pressed to focus long-term on energy
* States should continue setting up renewable mandates
* Cap and trade was to have helped finance green fund
By Timothy Gardner
CANCUN, Mexico, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Following Congress' failure to pass a comprehensive climate bill, the United States should not implement piecemeal energy policies because it could do more harm than good, the chief of electric company Duke Energy <DUK.N> said in an interview.
"Doing one-offs doesn't achieve anything for our country, adds to the confusion, and creates more brain damage than it does product," said Duke's Jim Rogers, the chief executive, who was arguably the most ardent supporter among his energy company peers for the U.S. cap-and-trade bill that failed in July.
President Barack Obama has suggested that the United States, the world's top greenhouse gas emitter after China, could implement chunks of environment and energy policy, like mandates for renewable power, now that the overarching bill has failed.
But that strategy likely would not deliver money for a proposed international climate fund to help the poorest countries deal with the worst effects of global warming. An international cap-and-trade market, which the U.S. had been expected to play a large role in, was supposed to have helped raise money for that.
Developed countries pledged at last year's UN climate talks in Copenhagen to deliver ${esc.dollar}100 billion a year in financing by 2020. Progress at this year's climate talks in Cancun, Mexico and future ones may hinge on that long-term financing. [ID:nCLIMATE]
ACCELERATING TECHNOLOGIES
One energy policy lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are working on is a renewable energy standard, requiring electric companies to generate minimum amounts of power from green sources like the wind and sun.
But Rogers said this mandate would be a classic case of the federal government forcing technology onto the market before it is ready.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't accelerate technologies, some would argue it hurts development of them," Rogers said late Monday on the sidelines of UN climate talks in Cancun.
Rogers, whose power plant fleet includes nuclear, opposes a federal clean energy mandate even if it includes nuclear energy because it would not guarantee the plants would get built.
About 30 states have adopted their own so-called renewable portfolio standards, and Rogers said a state-by-state approach was wiser than federal mandate because states know what they can achieve.
In the sunny U.S. Southwest, for instance, states have adopted strong mandates for renewables like solar. But many states lack such resources. The Midwest has a lot of coal, which means a uniform national mandate could be unpopular there.
"Let state governments do their jobs, they are doing their jobs," said Rogers. "There's no need for the federal government to impose one-size-fits-all law for our country," said Rogers, who is based in North Carolina.
But the federal government should put a broad price on carbon emissions as quickly as possible so companies can make investments on plants that last decades, he said.
He also warned that the United States was in danger of becoming a "chattering class" on energy, while China moves ahead on renewable energy and the high-technology lower emissions coal plants. Duke has partnered with groups in China to help develop technologies like solar power. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner)
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