What's New
On
Feb. 27, the House passed a bill extending crucial clean energy incentives that
would otherwise expire at the end of 2008. The incentives would be funded by a
long-overdue cut in subsidies for polluting oil and gas companies. We had
pushed to include a similar provision in the energy bill that passed in
December, but facing strong opposition from Sen. Pete Domenici
(N.M.), it was removed from the final bill. We’re now shifting our focus to the
Senate, where the bill will face a Presidential veto threat.
Brief Summary
We need a clean energy future. It is time to use America’s
technological know how to fight global warming, reduce our dependence on fossil
fuels and provide for America’s energy needs.
Our country has virtually unlimited potential to generate
electricity from renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power. Both California
and Texas could be entirely powered by solar
power, and the wind that blows over the Great Plains
could generate enough power for the entire country. And generating just 20 percent of our energy
from renewable sources like wind and solar power is the single biggest thing we
can do today to fight global warming.
Environment California
is calling on lawmakers to support HR 969, which would require that we generate
20 percent of our electricity nationwide from renewable sources by 2020. This would reduce our global warming
pollution by more than 500 million tons, the equivalent of taking 89 million
cars off the road.