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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