Sen. Udall Joins Committee to Pass Bipartisan Energy Bill that Focuses on Clean Energy Development

Udall: Bill Would Increase the Use of Clean Energy, Boost Economy, and Promote Energy Independence

June 17, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mark Udall, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined the Committee in passing comprehensive, bipartisan energy legislation. The American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 seeks to accelerate the use of clean energy technology through investments in project financing and through a national renewable electricity standard (RES) requiring utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources (such as solar, wind, biomass, or hydropower) by 2021.

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The bill includes four amendments submitted by Senator Udall, three promoting increased energy efficiency in residential buildings and certain appliances, including furnaces and computers. The fourth would establish a Bureau of Land Management office in Colorado to help facilitate renewable energy activities on public lands.

The legislation is expected to be debated on the Senate floor as early as this fall.

“This bill reflects a bipartisan and comprehensive approach to energy that will help us reduce our addiction to foreign fossil fuels,” Senator Udall said. “Colorado – and the nation – stand to benefit from the emphasis on increasing the use of clean energy, improving efficiency, and creating new, good-paying jobs in the renewable energy industry. It also expands our energy opportunities by opening up new areas for oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and supporting new nuclear energy options.”

“However, I believe this is only a beginning, and I will work to strengthen this bill during debate on the Senate floor,” Senator Udall continued. “In particular, I’m going to continue to encourage my colleagues to support a stronger RES. Here in Colorado, we have demonstrated the benefits – since 2004, when our state RES was first approved by voters, more than 3,000 jobs have been created in the wind and solar energy fields alone, and the legislature has since increased the standard. I believe that we cannot – and will not – meet our nation’s joint goals of leadership in the renewable energy industry and energy independence if we don’t follow Colorado’s lead.”

Provisions of the new energy policy include: • A new Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA) to facilitate tens of billions of dollars in new financing to get breakthrough clean energy technologies introduced into U.S. markets and expanded as quickly as possible.

• A national RES, requiring utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources (such as solar, wind, biomass, or hydropower) by 2021.

• Opening the eastern Gulf of Mexico to leasing and exploration for oil and gas, making over 3.8 billion barrels of new oil resources and 21.5 trillion cubic feet of new natural gas resources available.

• A strategy to create an “interstate highway system” for electricity with based on regional, state, and local planning and input; allowing states to take the initial lead in deciding where to build high-priority national transmission projects; ensuring that if an impasse develops over high-priority projects that have been identified in the consensus planning process, that they can proceed with Federal authority as a backstop; and making sure that the costs of “interstate highway system” transmission projects are shared fairly.

• A four-year integrated plan to double the U.S. investment in energy innovation and technology, to a total of almost $6.6 billion, with a complementary set of programs to enhance energy jobs training and workforce development.

• A legal and regulatory framework governing the first 10 large-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage demonstration projects.

• Plans to improve efficiency in buildings, homes, equipment, appliances and the Federal government.

• Protections for the U.S. electrical grid to prevent cyber vulnerabilities, threats, and attacks.

• Creation of a 30-million barrel petroleum product reserve, so that U.S. supplies of gasoline and diesel fuel will not face sudden shortfalls and price spikes due to the shutdown of refineries by hurricanes and other natural disasters, as occurred in 2008.

Source: Senator Mark Udall