Passes
national renewable electricity standard for the first time
Today
the House of Representatives voted 241-172 to pass “The New Direction for
Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act” (H.R.
3221), including an amendment to establish a national Renewable Electricity
Standard (RES). The passage of the RES
along with the package of legislation included in H.R. 3221 will make
significant steps toward a cleaner and more secure energy future for the United
States.
“We
applaud today’s clean energy breakthrough in the U.S. Congress,” said
Environment North Carolina Director Elizabeth Ouzts. “The House of
Representatives, with help from Reps. Butterfield, Miller, Price, Shuler, and
Watt, improved a good energy bill by adding a 15% renewable electricity
standard that will dramatically increase clean renewable power in this
country.”
Despite
massive opposition by coal-fired utility companies and their allies, a broad
coalition of environmentalists, labor unions, farm groups, clean energy developers
and investors persuaded members of Congress to pass the RES
amendment 220-190.
H.R.
3221 would require that utilities generate 15% of their electricity from
renewable energy such as wind, solar, or biomass, or through energy efficiency
savings by 2020. The amendment was offered by Representatives Udall (NM),
Rodriguez (TX), and Platts (PA) and others. Specifically, the RES:
- requires that utilities generate a gradually increasing amount of their electric
generation from renewable energy sources including solar, wind, biomass, and
geothermal, starting in 2010.
- establishes a national system for trading renewable energy credits.
- allows up to 27% of their targeted requirement through energy efficiency
savings (the equivalent of up to 4% of the 15% requirement).
Other
important provisions in the bill include:
- The Natural Resources Title (Title VII)
which will take important steps toward restoring sound stewardship to the
management of our public lands, ensuring responsible domestic energy
development, developing alternative energy sources, and helping America’s
fish and wildlife, public lands, coasts, and oceans adapt to global warming.
Title IX sets aggressive targets for strengthening
state building energy efficiency codes, adopts beneficial reforms to Department
of Energy (DOE) authority to issue energy efficiency standards for appliance
and equipment products, and establishes new efficiency standards for products
such as light bulbs, dishwashers and clothes washers.
Missing
from the legislation considered today was an improvement in fuel economy. The
energy bill passed by the Senate in June includes fuel economy provisions,
which will be brought to conference with the House bill.
“We
applaud the House for promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in this
bill. We look forward to seeing Congress pass a comprehensive energy bill that
addresses energy efficiency, fuel economy and renewable energy. We urge the
Congress to add the fuel economy provisions passed by the Senate in the final
bill,” said Ouzts.
