The Clean Energy Future Starts Here

The Clean Energy Future Starts Here Understanding the American Clean Energy and Security Act The Clean Energy Future Starts Here Understanding the American Clean Energy and Security Act Fall 2009 This paper was written by Tony Dutzik and Emily Figdor, with assistance from Margie Alt, Rob Sargent and Anna Aurilio. The generous financial support of the Oak Founda- tion made this report possible. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. The recommendations are those of Environment America. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. © 2009 Environment America We all want clean air, clean water and open spaces. But it takes independent research and tough-minded advocacy to win concrete results for our environment, especially when powerful interests stand in the way of environmental progress. That’s the idea behind Environment America. We focus exclusively on protecting America’s air, water and open spaces. We speak out and take action at the local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and our lives. For more information about Environment America, or for additional copies of this paper, please visit www.environmentamerica.org. Cover Photo: istockphoto, Kativ Layout: To the Point Publications, tothepointpublications.com Table of Contents Executive Summary . 4. Introduction . 8. The Goal: Repowering America with Clean Energy . 10. Clean Power . 10. Energy Independence . 12. Creating Millions of Green Jobs . 13. Reducing Global Warming Pollution . 14. America Is Making Progress Toward a Clean Energy Future . 16. States Are Leading the Way . 16. Washington Begins to Meet the Challenge . 18. Keeping Up the Momentum . 19. The American Clean Energy and Security Act Moves America in the Right Direction . 20. The American Clean Energy and Security Act: What It Does . 20. Projected Benefits of the ACES Act . 24. The ACES Act: Moving America Toward a Clean Energy Future . 29. The ACES Act Gets Some Important Things Wrong … But Passing it Is a Critical Step Forward for Clean Energy . 30. Key Flaws in the ACES Act . 30. Why Fight for the ACES Act? . 34. The Road to a New Energy Future: The ACES Act and What Comes Next . 38. Winning the Battle Over the ACES Act . 38. The Next Steps . 39. Notes . 41. Executive Summary merica’s dependence on fossil fuels our dependence on oil, create millions wreaks havoc on our environment of new jobs, and prevent the worst Aand is a drag on our economy. With impacts of global warming. a new president committed to tackling • America can save energy by improv- our energy challenges – and with the ing the efficiency of our homes, momentum generated by a decade of businesses and factories. At the same clean energy innovation at the state time, America has access to enough level – Congress has taken up the task energy from the sun, wind, water and of mapping out a new energy future for other renewable sources to power the the nation. nation several times over. The nation The American Clean Energy and Se- should set a goal of obtaining 100 percent curity (ACES) Act, passed by the House of our electricity from clean sources of this June and currently under consider- energy. ation by the U.S. Senate, is the fruit of that effort. Passing the ACES Act – even • We have the tools to use less oil in with the compromises made to secure our transportation system by vastly passage in the House – would be a signifi- improving the energy efficiency of cant step toward a clean energy future for our vehicles, replacing at least some the United States and would represent a of the oil we use with cleaner sources ground-breaking political achievement. of energy, and bringing new transportation options – including public We have the technology and the transportation, high-speed rail, and know-how to repower America with more opportunities for walking and clean energy. Congress and the presi- biking – to more Americans. The dent should embrace and work to nation should strive to achieve energy achieve ambitious goals to obtain our independence by cutting our consumption electricity from clean sources, curb of oil in half. 4 The Clean Energy Future Starts Here: Understanding the American Clean Energy and Security Act • Hundreds of thousands of Ameri- • These state efforts are making a cans already work in clean energy difference. America now gets a industries. Repowering America greater share of our electricity from would create millions of new jobs wind, solar, geothermal and bio- in manufacturing, installing, financ- mass energy than at any time in our ing, selling and servicing energy modern history. In the two-year span efficient products and renewable between 2006 and 2008, America’s energy technologies. America should production of wind power nearly embrace the goal of creating five mil- doubled and our production of solar lion clean energy jobs to revitalize our power increased by two-thirds. State economy. energy efficiency programs, mean- while, saved approximately 63 billion • The actions we take to repower kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2007, America with clean energy will enough to power 5.6 million Ameri- also dramatically reduce our emis- can homes. sions of pollutants that contribute to global warming. To prevent the • Recent efforts by the Obama ad- worst impacts of global warming, ministration and Congress – most America should commit to reducing our notably the American Recovery and emissions of global warming pollutants Reinvestment Act enacted in Febru- by at least 35 percent by 2020 and by ary – build on these efforts. By in- at least 80 percent by 2050. vesting in clean energy technologies, the economic recovery plan will: State and local governments have • Double the amount of wind power laid the groundwork for a new energy produced in America in 2012 future for America through innova- compared with business-as-usual tive public policies. The Obama projections. administration, in its first months in office, has followed suit. Together, • Reduce energy consumption for those efforts have made a meaning- home heating by 1.7 percent, ful contribution toward achieving and for cooling by 3.0 percent, in the vision of an America powered by 2030. clean energy. • Reduce household energy bills by • More than two dozen states have $64 per year on average between adopted minimum requirements for 2009 and 2030. the percentage of their electricity • In addition, the Obama administra- that comes from renewable energy. tion’s proposal to improve vehicle Nineteen states have set similar fuel economy will save 19 billion requirements for tapping energy gallons of gasoline per year by 2030, savings from improved efficiency. reducing our dependence on foreign Fourteen states adopted clean cars oil. standards designed to reduce global warming pollution from cars and The American Clean Energy and light trucks. Six states have adopted Security Act moves the nation further enforceable caps on global warming toward a clean energy future. pollution. And many states, cities and towns have taken other impor- • The ACES Act includes strong tant steps to promote clean energy. provisions to improve the energy Executive Summary 5 efficiency of the American economy, as However, the ACES Act gets sev- well as the nation’s first-ever manda- eral important things wrong and so tory nationwide limits on emissions of represents an incremental, rather global warming pollutants. In addition, than a transformative step toward a the bill establishes a framework for the clean energy future. The following future expansion of renewable energy flaws in the bill should be fixed in in the United States. the Senate: • Analyses of the bill by the Environ- • The bill removes EPA’s authority to mental Protection Agency, the Depart- regulate carbon dioxide emissions ment of Energy and others show that from existing coal-fired power the ACES Act will move the nation plants – the majority of which are one large step closer to a clean energy already more than a quarter-cen- future. These analyses (which under- tury old – removing an important sell the benefits of the bill because they tool from the toolbox of strategies omit analysis of several key provisions) that can speed the transition from project that the ACES Act will: inefficient, polluting technolo- • Reduce electricity consumption by gies to clean, renewable sources of 7 to 12 percent by 2030 versus busi- power. ness-as-usual projections through • The ACES Act’s heavy reliance on improvements in energy efficiency. offsets – global warming emission • Increase the share of America’s reductions that take place overseas electricity coming from non-hydro- or in areas of the economy not electric renewable sources of energy covered by the emission cap – and from a projected 10 percent to ap- its lack of clarity regarding how the proximately 15 percent by 2030. offset program will be implemented leave too much to chance, possibly • Cut our consumption of oil by at eroding the bill’s effectiveness in least 4 to 7 percent below business- reducing global warming pollution as-usual in 2030, with America us- and promoting clean energy. ing up to 12 percent less oil in 2030 than we did in 2006. • The ACES Act misses out on important opportunities to expand • Create hundreds of thousands to the use of renewable energy and millions of new jobs. create new clean energy jobs. The • Reduce domestic emissions of renewable electricity standard global warming pollutants by 5 to (RES) in the bill will not result in 14 percent by 2020 and by 15 to 21 any additions of renewable energy percent by 2030, and drive overall beyond those already forecast (al- emission reductions (including re- though other provisions in the bill ductions overseas achieved through will promote renewables).

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