Tell Congress to Support Clean Energy
by Union of Concerned Scientists on 02.12.07
On Thursday, a new bill was introduced in the House that could be the best chance to finally pass strong, national renewable energy policy—but early support is needed.
H.R. 969 creates a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requiring utilities to generate or buy 20 percent clean, renewable energy by 2020. This bill would create a large and growing market for clean and truly renewable sources of energy.
Energy from the sun and wind lasts forever and conserves resources for future generations. By requiring utilities to generate an increasing percentage of their electricity from renewable resources—rather than fossil fuels which emit carbon dioxide, soot, mercury, and other pollutants—a national renewable energy policy would dramatically expand America’s use of solar, wind, geothermal, and energy from crops.
Analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists of a 20 percent RPS shows that the standard will:
--create 355,000 new jobs, nearly twice as many jobs as generating the same amount of electricity from fossil fuels;
--save consumers a total of $49 billion dollars on their utility bills for both natural gas and electricity
--reduce carbon dioxide emissions—the main cause of global warming—by over 400 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 71 million cars off the road or planting 104 million acres of trees.
Please tell your representative to cosponsor H.R. 969. If your representative is listed below, they’ve already cosponsored the bill.
Tom Udall (D-NM)
Todd Platts (R-PA)
Mark Udall (D-CO)
Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Chris Shays (R-CT)
Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Jerry McNerney (D-CA)
