Boston, MA-A major draft bill released today by Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy & Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) sets the stage for Congress to pass historic energy and global warming legislation, according to Environment Massachusetts.
The draft bill uses a framework advanced by major U.S. businesses.
“This is a pragmatic bill that tries to balance a historic opportunity to unleash clean energy to rebuild our economy and stop the climate crisis, with the diversity of views on the Energy & Commerce Committee,” said Environment Massachusetts Field Organizer Winston Vaughan.
The draft legislation released today in Washington D.C. follows in the footsteps of major bills passed last year by the Massachusetts legislature designed to tackle global warming emissions and boost state efforts to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
State Legislators also expressed their support for the bill. “As we work to build Massachusetts’ clean energy economy and put Bay Staters to work building solar panels and wind farms, we’ll need a strong partnership with the federal government,” said Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) Vice-Chair of the State Senate Environment Committee. “Today’s bill from Chairmen Waxman and Markey is a great step in that direction.”
The draft bill sets standards to repower America with clean energy, including a requirement that the nation obtain 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, like wind and solar power, by 2025. The draft bill also requires the United States to reduce its global warming emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 through a combination of domestic action and efforts to help stop tropical deforestation.
“First and foremost, we applaud the draft bill’s strong clean energy standards that will transform our economy and the strong pollution-reduction requirements that reflect the latest climate science.”
At the same time, Environment Massachusetts expressed concern about high levels of carbon offsets in the bill, which provide less-certain reductions in emissions, and large subsidies, including funds from ratepayers, for still-unproven carbon capture and storage technology.
“We also need to examine the details of the draft bill to make sure that Massachusetts and other states can continue to move forward with even stronger solutions to global warming where they are needed,” said Vaughan.
“We applaud Chairmen Waxman and Markey for their longstanding leadership on energy and global warming and for their hard work on this draft bill. We urge Representative Markey, and the rest of the Massachusetts delegation to work hard for a strong bill that repowers Massachusetts, and repowers America with clean energy, helps rebuild our economy, and solves global warming.”
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Environment Massachusetts is a state-based, citizen funded environmental group working for clean air, clean water and open space. www.environmentmassachusetts.org
