Lois Barber
Congress has worked for over a year to pass an energy and climate bill. The House passed one earlier this year, but the Senate version never had the 60 supporters needed to overcome the opposition to taking a vote on it.
Now is our last chance to get a renewable energy bill passed by this Congress. A bipartisan bill, S 3813, is now before the Senate. It requires electric utilities to generate 15% of their power from renewables or efficiency improvements by 2021. The House has already approved a similar bill, HR 2454. The Senate bill is far from ideal as it has been sufficiently watered-down to garner bipartisan support, but it is "the only game in town," and is an important next step.
It is critical that the Senate pass this bill this year or the whole process will have to start over again in the new Congress which may be even less supportive of energy and climate legislation than the current one. As stated in the RES Action Statement released by a large coalition of business, labor and other groups, our key renewable energy industries are seeing significant drops in manufacturing while investment in these industries overseas, particularly in China, is skyrocketing. We cannot afford to lose thousands of clean energy jobs across the US and we must restore our leadership and competitive position in the global renewable energy industry.
Urge them to support S 3813, the Renewable Electricity Standard. Point out that it has wide support from business because it makes the market more predictable, and from labor because America needs the jobs. Mention that a recent poll by Yale and George Mason Universities shows that 61% of Americans support an even stronger standard of 20% renewables by 2020. Now is the time for our country to take its next step toward a renewable energy future.
Contact Information:
Telephone: Call the Senate switchboard (202) 224-3121, ask for your Senator's office.
Online: Click here: www.senate.gov, search for your senator, and leave a message.
Write: Senator (first & last name), U.S. Senate, Washington D.C. 20510
Photo Credit: Untitled (Wreck Beach), Tim Barber, 2004.
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