A strong energy bill is weakened by failure on electricity standards

On Dec. 13, the Senate passed a bipartisan energy bill that, if enacted, will represent the first time Congress has acted to increase fuel economy standards in more than 30 years. However, the Senate failed to pass a renewable electricity provision and follow the path that the House, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, had blazed the week prior toward a new energy future for our country.

The bill passed in the Senate will increase fuel economy standards industrywide to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. This will save 1.1 million barrels of oil per day and save consumers $22 billion in 2020. By 2030, these standards will reduce annual global warming emissions by 424 million metric tons a year, the equivalent of taking 77 million of today’s cars off the road.

The Senate bill also contains beneficial reforms to federal Department of Energy authority to issue energy-efficiency standards for appliance and equipment products, and establishes new efficiency standards for products like light bulbs, dishwashers, and clothes washers. The lighting standard alone would reduce global warming pollution by 100 million metric tons in 2030 relative to DOE projections. The bill also will save taxpayers money by increasing efficiency in federal government buildings.

Unfortunately, the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush and a filibuster by many Senate Republicans led Senate leaders to drop a renewable electricity standard (RES) from the bill, an important component in the legislation that would have required utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy such as wind, solar, or biomass, or through energy efficiency savings by 2020. Senate leaders were also forced to drop a package of tax credits that would have shifted billions of dollars of subsidies from the oil industry to investment in clean, renewable energy sources including wind, solar and geothermal technologies.

With oil and gasoline prices surpassing record highs, with electricity prices increasing in Maine and across the country, and with the threat of global warming growing as we burn coal and other fossil fuels, this bill represents an historic step in moving the United States toward a clean, independent energy future.

But, Mainers need more from our federal government. We need a strong bill that requires more renewable energy and ensures there are solid policies in place to help our nation save energy.

Maine has already made a strong commitment to renewable energy. By passing a strong Renewable Electricity Standard in Maine, we have started cleaning up our air and jumpstarting our rural economy through the creation of quality jobs in clean energy. Maine stands to benefit even more from a national renewable energy standard.

As paper mills and manufacturing industries have left our state in rapid succession, investment in clean energy has the potential to provide Mainers with quality new jobs. A report by the Blue Green Alliance and the Renewable Energy Policy Project found that renewable energy manufacturing could create over 4,000 new jobs in Maine.

Maine’s national representatives – Rep. Tom Allen and Rep. Mike Michaud, and Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins – have long histories of fighting for renewable energy and energy efficiency, histories that should make Mainers proud.

But, Snowe and Collins have not yet finished leading our country toward a smart, clean energy future. For the thousands of workers who would benefit from clean energy jobs, for the rural communities who would benefit from increased economic activity, and for all the Mainers that would benefit from cleaner air and healthier planet, Snowe and Collins should ensure that a strong Renewable Energy Standard passes in the Senate in the coming months.

Now is the time to put our country on the path to a new clean, independent energy future.

Tracy Allen is an environment associate with Environment Maine, an environmental advocacy organization based in Portland. She is from Livermore Falls.