Clean Energy Update - Summer 2009
Contents
- Summary
- The RES in the House Climate Bill
- The RES in the Senate
- UCS Supporters Working to Pass an RES
- Looking Forward
Program Updates
Clean Energy
Clean Vehicles
Food and Agriculture
Global Warming
Nuclear Weapons and Global Security
Scientific Integrity
Summary
This summer, thanks to pressure from UCS supporters and others, committees in both the House and Senate passed national renewable electricity standards (RES) requiring utilities to generate an increasing amount of energy from clean, renewable sources such as the sun and wind. In addition, the full House passed an RES for the second year in a row, this time as part of a comprehensive climate and energy bill. Because the RES bills were not as strong as UCS would have liked, UCS remains dedicated to working this fall with activists and ally organizations to pass a stronger RES.
The RES in the House Climate Bill
The House RES was part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), the comprehensive climate and energy bill introduced by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA). Its RES provision requires covered utilities to generate or buy 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, or energy efficiency by 2020. Under ACES, utilities may achieve one-fourth (5 percent of the total) of this requirement through gains in energy efficiency, and governors may petition for an additional 3 percent in energy efficiency, effectively lowering the renewable requirement to 12 percent. UCS analysis (pdf) shows that this level of renewable energy would not be significantly greater than the level achieved through state RES provisions and renewable energy development under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus package) passed in February 2009.
The RES in the Senate
Meanwhile, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) in June, which includes an RES. Under this RES, utilities must meet a goal of 15 percent renewable energy by 2021. Approximately 3 percent of that goal may be met through energy efficiency measures. UCS analysis shows that the actual amount of renewable energy generated would be less than this level, between 7.4 and 10.7 percent. This may be only marginally better than the amount of renewable energy generated through the combination of the state RES programs and the renewable provisions of the stimulus package. Beyond its low standard, the senate energy bill has serious shortcomings, including: a loan system for new energy technologies that could favor funding of new nuclear reactors or coal plants; a transmission provision that does not prioritize new renewable energy production; and a provision that would require the secretary of energy to accelerate development of nuclear waste reprocessing technologies, an approach the Obama administration has abandoned.
UCS Supporters Working to Pass an RES
Against the lobbying efforts of utilities, coal mining companies, the Chamber of Commerce, and more, UCS activists helped generate thousands of emails and calls to congress to support the inclusion of a strong RES in the ACES climate bill. For more on the climate aspects of the bill, check out the Climate Program update.
In addition, UCS worked with citizens and other allies in key states to help pass the House and Senate RES bills—and to include key provisions in the bills. Before the House vote, we brought farmers from critical states to DC, where they met with their members of congress and explained how a strong RES would benefit the farm economy and their rural communities. In North Carolina and Arkansas, we worked with forest owners who not only want the RES to create markets for their renewable biomass, but want to make sure that it includes sustainability standards that protect wildlife habitat, water quality, and soil productivity. We also worked with wildlife organizations and wildlife scientists to ensure that biomass use is compatible with wildlife.
Our special project organizing Native villages in Alaska built upon the 85 villages that passed resolutions supporting an RES and generated numerous letters to the editor and positive TV coverage, including a story aired by the largest TV station in the state. And our organizer in Alaska is on track to get the largest Alaska Native organization to endorse the RES.
Looking Forward
UCS and our coalition will be working to strengthen ACES and the Senate RES when it moves to the floor. If the RES bills were a testament to the widespread support for renewable energy across the country, improving them—by increasing their standards and removing objectionable technical provisions—remains a job for UCS’ unique expertise in renewable energy technology and policy, and for our leadership as renewable energy advocates.
