Thursday, March 02, 2009
Friends of ASES,
What energy policies are needed to help get the U.S. economy back on
track?
The American Solar Energy Society is proud to announce a comprehensive
set of federal policy recommendations to generate millions of new green
jobs - and to mitigate the dangerous effects of climate change.
These powerful policies will speed the transition to a sustainable
energy economy.
Can you help share these policy recommendations
with your
U.S. Representative and Senators in Congress and urge them to take
action?
Click
here to find the ASES Policy Recommendations
>
We assembled some of the nation's leading experts on renewable energy
and energy efficiency to develop, scrutinize, and refine these
recommendations. The goal was to provide a menu of policies needed to
propel the U.S. economy and tackle climate change.
These policy recommendations can generate a total
of 37 million jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the
U.S. by 2030 - while reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by
2050 (compared to 2006 levels).
Here's an overview of the seven areas addressed in this policy document:
CARBON
EMISSIONS:
Establish an upstream 'cap and auction' system to regulate carbon and
other greenhouse gases at the points where they first enter the energy
economy. The allocation should be auctioned to avoid a windfall to
existing emitters.
BUILDINGS: Adopt the Architecture 2030
target of reducing energy consumption in all new buildings and
retrofits by 50% compared with the regional average, advancing to
carbon neutral buildings by 2030.
RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY: Establish
national renewable portfolio standards (RPS) reaching at least 50% of
total electric generation by 2030. Establish the federal RPS as a floor
and encourage state RPS and/or feed-in tariffs to exceed federal
standards.
TRANSPORTATION: Establish national
targets and supporting policies to end dependence on foreign oil by
2025. A total of 22 supporting policies and actions are specified in
the report.
SMART GRID & GREEN TRANSMISSION:
Conduct nationally coordinated large-scale transmission studies.
Establish national standards to enable smart grid development and
require smart grid plans and investment as prerequisites for states to
access carbon auction revenues.
GREEN ECONOMY & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT:
Establish an aggressive set of federal drivers for the green economy,
including a national renewable energy standard with a solar set aside,
tax incentives for the creation of domestic renewable energy and energy
efficiency jobs, and a domestic green job corps.
FEDERAL LEADERSHIP: Further establish
the federal government as a leader in the procurement of new renewable
energy resources and in improving the energy efficiency of vehicles and
buildings to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Move to
end subsidies for mature energy industries.
We invite you to learn more about these recommendations.
Get the policy document with the details and
analysis here:
www.ases.org/policy2009
These policies are urgently needed to stimulate the U.S. economy and to
prevent the dangerous effects of climate change. Of course, policy
recommendations need to get into the hands of energy policy-makers who
can work to quickly implement them.
Can you contact the U.S. Congressional leaders from your state (contact
info here) to urge them to review and champion these
recommendations?
Consider sending them a copy of this policy document (linked above) and
encourage them to promote some or all of these goals. Or simply ask
them to support the energy policy recommendations from the American
Solar Energy Society at: www.ases.org/policy2009
This policy document provides the analysis they need to craft the
legislation that will serve as economic drivers for the 21st Century
and reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions.
Your phone call or email to Congress can make all the difference.
With sincere thanks,
Brad Collins
Executive Director,
American Solar Energy Society
PS. I'd like to thank the members of the ASES Policy
Committee and the many other contributors for their tireless efforts in
developing these recommendations.
PPS. We'll be discussing these policies in detail at SOLAR
2009. If you haven't already registered for this
national solar conference we invite you to join
us there.
