Senior U.S. officials support ACORE's call for renewable energy policy

WASHINGTON, DC, US, October 26, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)

Two senior government officials support a new policy for renewable energy in the United States.

The American Council On Renewable Energy is promoting ‘Phase II’ to identify new energy policies that are needed to increase the use of renewables, supply domestic energy, enhance national security, create jobs, improve the environment and health, and reduce the risks of climate change. Its recent forum on Capitol Hill in Washington attracted 350 delegates.

The Department of Agriculture “has moved to Phase II, building on many of the technologies that have come out of Phase I,” said secretary Mike Johanns. “The Bush Administration and the US Department of Agriculture are now very supportive of renewable energy.”

“The Department of the Interior is steward to one out of every five acres of land in the US, so it has a significant role to play in the development of domestic renewable energy,” said secretary Gale Norton. “We are pleased to join ACORE in a discussion of how we can work together to meet the objectives of the recently passed Energy Policy Act to diversify and add to our nation's energy supply by producing clean, affordable renewable energy.”

The co-chairs of the Senate & House Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucus, republican senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, democratic senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and democratic representative Mark Udall of Colorado, all stated their dedication to accelerating the use of renewables as one of several key solutions to energy problems in the US. ACORE says the forum had an “unprecedented increase” in participation from members of Congress.

“Setting our country straight on energy policy is one of the most important challenges we face,” said Udall. “I don't believe we can respond effectively to increasing fossil fuel prices and energy supply disruptions without a commitment to renewable energy as a key part of our energy future.”

“When it comes to our energy future, we should be relying on the midwest, not the Mideast,” said keynote speaker, governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. “We can increase our use of renewable energy sources across the nation, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

Key elements of a new policy framework will be a commitment to longer-term, more stable and predictable government policy, and greater support from across the political spectrum, explains ACORE. The US must develop a backbone transmission system as a national priority to link renewable energy in rural areas with load centres, and look at “fundamentally new ways of setting utility rates based on the hedging value of renewable energy.” It must monetize the environmental benefits of renewables through national and regional trading of credits, look at RPS and other means to encourage utility acceptance of renewables, encourage voluntary consumer demand for renewables through green tags, shift economic incentives from early cost-based subsidies to revenue-side (performance based) incentives that attract private investment, accelerate the adoption of distributed generation and smart grid technology, and amend the charter of the Department of Energy to focus on technology transfer rather than demonstrations.

Some of the 35 groups that supported the ‘Phase II’ conference are the American Wind Energy Association, Geothermal Energy Association, Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Solar Electric Industries Association, Solar Electric Power Association, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership, National Hydrogen Association, National Hydropower Association, Electric Power Research Institute, Center for Resource Solutions, National Rural Electric Co-op Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Biomass Coordinating Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, World Resources Institute, Worldwatch Institute, Clean Energy Group, American Public Power Association, Consumer Energy Council of America, National Corn Growers Association, Global Green, U.S. Conference of Mayors and Alliance to Save Energy.


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