Sensible energy policies

Apollo Alliance recently circulated the email below.

This is the job creation initiative we need to move Americans forward, protect and create American manufacturing jobs, and create energy security.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced stand-alone renewable energy legislation. The bill's lead co-sponsors, Senators Jeff Bingaman (D. - New Mexico), Tom Udall (D. - New Mexico) and Sam Brownback (R. - Kansas), say it will require utilities to generate 15 percent of their energy from renewables by 2021. Wind, solar, ocean, geothermal, biomass, new hydropower, and landfill-generated methane would be considered renewable sources, and states would be allowed to meet more than a quarter of the requirements through energy efficiency efforts. The bill now has four Republican co-sponsors: Brownback (R-KS), John Ensign (R-NV), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Brownback says he believes the support of several more Republicans can be rounded up. Yesterday Democrats Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Jon Tester (D.-MT) signed on to support the bill, which now has 25 supporters.

A group of 21 businesses, labor unions, think tanks, and advocacy groups recently released an RES Action Statement, calling on the Senate to approve a clean energy standard immediately in order to prevent a renewables industry slowdown and stem the flow of clean energy capital and jobs from the U.S. to China. "If we wait another year," said a senior vice president for Iberdrola Renewables, "we're going to lose a lot."

In fact, this Wednesday, Ravi Viswanathan of the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associated testified in Congress that the US has lost its leadership to China, Japan, and Germany in clean energy manufacturing and deployment, and is challenged and threatened by emerging economies such as India, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. "These nations have outpaced the US in recruiting, incenting, and developing domestic manufacturing of solar, wind, and battery technology, Viswanathan said. "As one example, the US's market share for solar manufacturing has fallen from 45 percent in the mid 1990's to roughly 5 percent today."

American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode called the proposed renewable energy standard "modest," but said the RES is the "single most important thing we can do to grow jobs here in the United States and keep 85,000 American wind energy workers on the job. This bill sends a signal to manufacturers that the time is right to invest in and grow their operations here in America."

Passing a renewable energy standard has become a rallying point for a broad spectrum of U.S. labor, business, and environmental interests. According to a recent RES Alliance For Jobs study, an RES of 25 percent would generate 274, 000 new American jobs. Although many states already have renewable or alternative energy standards higher than 15 percent (see map of states), the legislation will be particularly important for states like Indiana and several Southeastern states that have no policies to generate demand for renewable energy.

The Apollo Alliance views the passage of a national RES as an important first step in ensuring that the U.S. remains a competitor in the race to lead the global clean energy economy while creating good American jobs.

Senators looking for inspiration in drumming up support for a federal standard need look no further than California, where regulators moved to strengthen the state's existing RES yesterday. The Golden State, which now has the strongest RES in the nation, will require utilities to generate 33 percent of their electricity through renewables by 2020. The change marks a 13 percent increase over the state's previous standard. "This standard is going to further diversify and secure our energy supply while also growing California's leading green technology market, which will lead to cost savings for consumers," said Mary D. Nichols of the California Air resources Board, which voted unanimously in support of the new regulation.


Infamous Koch Brothers Join Big Oil's Effort to Derail California's Landmark Global Warming Law By Supporting Prop 23

Many Americans had never heard of the Koch brothers before the New Yorker published an expose in late August about their funding of the Tea Party movement. According to New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer, the billionaire Koch brothers-whose company, Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas, owns oil refineries and oil pipelines, and produces such products as Dixie cups and and Lycra-are stalwart funders and supporters of libertarian causes, especially the cause of eliminating environmental regulations.

Now the Koch brothers have joined the effort by Texas oil giants Valero and Tesoro to stop the implementation of California's landmark climate and clean energy bill, AB 32. They have contributed $1 million to Proposition 23, a ballot measure that would stop AB 32 from going into effect. Prop 23's main funders are Valero and Tesoro.

If these oil interests succeed in derailing AB 32, it will be a blow not only to California but to the entire country. AB 32 is a model clean energy and climate law that will reduce California greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. It includes such measures as a renewable energy standard; strict building and appliance energy efficiency standards; GHG emissions standards for passenger vehicles; a low-carbon fuel standard; a plan for high-speed rail between Northern and Southern California; a cap and trade program, in collaboration with other Western U.S. states and Canadian provinces; and many other measures in areas including land use, industrial energy efficiency, agriculture, forests, recycling and waste, and water. Click here to learn more about AB 32.

Luckily, many businesses, labor unions, environmental groups and community organizations are lining up against Prop 23, including energy companies like PG&E and Sempra. Additionally, this week, Republican candidate for governor of California, Meg Whitman, has announced that she will oppose Prop 23, although she still says she would suspend AB 32 for one year if elected. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown opposes Prop 23 and supports full implementation of AB 32.

The California Apollo Alliance strongly backs AB 32 and has released a California Apollo Program (http://apolloalliance.org/programs/caap/) that calls for reinforcing and expanding the state's commitment to clean energy at a time when AB 32 is under attack, and clean energy job growth is one of the few bright spots in California's struggling economy.

"We can't afford to quit on California's best opportunity to create jobs and ensure a more prosperous decade-expansion of California's clean energy economy," said Lisa Hoyos, California coordinator of the Apollo Alliance.

Click here to find out more about the campaign to stop Prop 23 and here to learn about the California Apollo Program.

In other news …

*Check out our op-ed in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Andrea Alderson-Bazemore, Apollo's Indiana coordinator, penned an op-ed about clean energy job creation that was published this week in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. She wrote, "For Indiana workers and businesses to see the clean-energy job creation our state so desperately needs, we are going to need to push our senators to make another attempt to pass clean-energy and climate policies this fall. It won't be easy, especially during an election season, but Indiana workers, businesses and our economy can't wait another year or longer without strong national clean-energy and climate policies." Click here to read the op-ed

*Join the Apollo Alliance team as a Senior Policy Associate! The Apollo Alliance is seeking a skilled, experienced, policy and research expert with a background and interest in energy policy and economic development to work closely with the Policy Director and senior staff in a fast-paced environment. This position is an excellent opportunity for a highly talented and experienced professional who is committed to clean energy and social equity issues and wants to work in a high-caliber, results-oriented non-profit policy organization. For more information, check out the job announcement. ().


You can keep track of the quickening pace of state and federal action on clean energy policy on our Apollo Blog and Daily Digest.
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Take care and talk to you again next week.

Yours,


Andrea Buffa
Apollo Alliance
buffa@apolloalliance.org