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Climate Solutions Applauds Congressional Leadership on Climate and Clean Energy
Posted by Ross Macfarlane on 01 April 09, 03:53 PMWe applaud chairmen Waxman and Markey for moving promptly to put climate and clean energy at the forefront of the legislative agenda, and we join hundreds of other groups in urging Congress to move quickly to join the world in addressing these issues. Congress is finally taking action to build a clean energy future, repower the American economy, create millions of new jobs, and address the global climate crisis.
Strong climate and clean energy policies are essential for our economic competitiveness as well as our ability to leave a healthy planet to our children. The bill incorporates needed policies that will spur development of clean energy, eliminate waste, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and avoid the severe economic impacts from unchecked climate change.
We are in an intensely competitive global economic environment, and we need to lead on clean energy policies to ensure that American companies and workers capture these opportunities. We don’t want to risk a future where we substitute a dependence on solar cells made in Germany, wind turbines made in Denmark and batteries made in Korea, for our current addiction to Middle-Eastern oil. We specifically applaud Congress’ recognition that climate and clean energy policies are inextricably linked and need to be addressed together.
The bill is a step towards the New Apollo Program championed by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) which would create millions of new clean energy jobs and save consumers hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs, as well as address global warming pollution. Rep. Inslee is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, where this bill will go for initial markup.
Key elements that we are excited about in the proposed bill include:
—A firm cap for global warming pollution, based on science-based targets, including a commitment to reduce pollution by 83% by 2050. A firm cap is not only what the planet needs, it is the single most important tool for making clean and efficient energy the cheapest form of energy, and unlocking significant investment and job creation. It will also allow the United States to regain its leadership in the critical international discussions, including this fall’s climate conference in Copenhagen.
—A national renewable power standard, ensuring that we generate 25% of our total electricity load from renewable sources by the year 2025.
Smart grid policies to transform our electrical grid, incorporate renewable sources around the country, allowing efficient management of loads, and promote smart and efficient home appliances and applications
—Steps to address black carbon, a soot particle that is the second leading contributor to global climate change after carbon dioxide — and a major threat to public health. Black carbon dust from sources ranging from cooking fires in the developing world to diesel fuel combustion in the US settles on polar ice caps and glaciers, causing large areas of the Earth’s surface to absorb rather than reflect heat and accelerate warming trends.
—A low carbon fuel standard that evaluates all transportation fuels based on their contributions to greenhouse gases, and spurs investments in low-carbon alternatives.
—Unprecedented commitments to increase energy efficiency across the economy, including buildings, industry, utilities, appliances and transportation. The cheapest and cleanest source of energy is the energy that we save, and this bill puts efficiency at the top of the policy agenda for the first time.
—Green jobs and worker training provisions. These elements build on the investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to make job creation and training a key focus of our strategy to create an inclusive and vibrant clean energy future.
While we are thrilled that Congress is moving quickly to establish climate and clean energy policy, the bill is still a work in progress. In a bill of this size and complexity it is not surprising that there are some areas that give us concern. Key areas where the bill will need to be strengthened include:
—Auctions. Like President Obama, we support auctioning permits to emit global warming pollution. This is the best way to ensure that the system is efficient, effective, and fair. Auctioning will also create substantial revenues that can be returned to citizens and can fund investments in the new energy future. The discussion draft is light on its discussion of how the permits will be auctioned or allocated.
—Offsets. The bill proposes allowing two billion tons of offsets that can be used to allow existing sources of global warming pollution to continue emitting. As drafted, all of the compliance obligations could be met through offsets for the early years of the program. This would undercut the central need to transform our energy economy and stall investments in clean and efficient technologies.