Environment North Carolina applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a 21st
Century energy bill that will harness American ingenuity and put us on
a path to cleaner, smarter new energy future for America. This bill is
a breakthrough on energy policy and sets the country firmly on a path
to increasing clean energy, lowering energy demand, and reducing U.S.
dependence on oil.
We
applaud Representatives Butterfield, Etheridge, Price, McIntyre, Hayes,
Shuler, Watt, and Miller for voting in favor of an excellent energy
bill that makes a significant down payment on reducing global warming
pollution.
The Senate and President Bush should act quickly to deliver a bright green holiday for the American public.
Highlights of the bill include:
Promote Clean Energy by
following the lead of half the states to establish a national renewable
electricity standard, requiring utilities to produce 15% of their
electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. The bill also
extends renewable energy production tax credits for four years and
investment tax credits for 8 years.
A
national renewable electricity standard will substantially reduce
global warming pollution while sparking a clean energy boom across the
U.S. According to a recent analysis by Environment America, renewable
energy development in states with RES policies is already boosting
local economies by luring new manufacturing and other skilled jobs. UCS
projects the standard would save consumers at least $13 billion and cut
126 million metric tons of global warming pollution per year by 2020
(equal to taking more than 20 million cars off the road).
Reduce U.S. Dependence on Oil by increasing fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks to 35 mpg by 2020. This
would be the first meaningful increase in fuel economy standards in
more than 15 years. The provision replaces the current standards with
an attribute-based system that gives the auto industry tremendous
compliance flexibility by allowing for different mileage requirements
per vehicle size. The standards in the Senate bill
would save 1.2 million barrels of oil a day in 2020, save consumers $25
billion at the gas pumps, and substantially reduce global warming
pollution. With oil prices continuing to set new records above $80 a
barrel, Americans want new standards and more efficient vehicles now.
Save Energy by adopting strong energy-efficiency incentives and standards. Both
the House and Senate bills contain legislation that would help
Americans save energy in their homes and businesses. These policies
include appliance and lighting efficiency standards, tax incentives,
and building codes.
