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Clean Energy for America Why the 44th President Must Put America on the Clean Energy Path 1/24/2004 Clean-Energy-for-America-WEB.pdf News Release

Executive Summary

America has the technological knowhow and the resources to move away from dependence on dirty and dangerous energy supplies. With the right goals and polices, the next president of the United States can provide America with the much needed leadership to achieve a clean energy future.

This document explains why the next president must act immediately to address America’s growing energy crisis, and lays out a reasonable yet ambitious course for meeting America’s future energy needs with clean, renewable energy.

America is on a dangerous energy path.

• Under business as usual conditions, America will use 22 percent more energy in 2030 than today, including 19 percent more oil and 41 percent more coal; imports of oil will increase 21 percent.
• America will emit 25 percent more carbon dioxide by 2030, making it virtually impossible for the world to achieve the emission reductions that scientists tell us are needed to forestall the worst impacts of global warming.
• Americans will spend $250 billion more on fossil fuels and nuclear energy than today.

America has vast clean energy opportunities.

• America can cut electricity use by 20 percent and natural gas use by 22 percent through cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, achieving considerable global warming pollution reductions.
• Automobiles can be engineered to go 40 miles per gallon, even without the widespread use of hybrid technologies. Raising fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020 will save consumers $26.5 billion annually, a further increase to 45 mpg would be even more effective.
• Wind power could generate more than twice the country’s current electricity demands; producing just 5 percent of the nation’s power from wind would create $60 billion in capital investment in rural America and provide $1.2 billion in new income for farmers and rural landowners.
• Solar photovoltaic panels placed on just 7 percent of buildings could meet all U.S. electricity needs and largescale thermal plants in the desert could meet all of America’s energy needs and do so even while the sun is down.

Americans support clean energy solutions.

• 87 percent of Americans support developing renewable energy resources and 68 percent believe increased conservation is more important than increased production of fossil fuels.
• 77 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Southerners, 81 percent of rural voters, 85 percent of independent voters and 92 percent of Democrats agree that the federal government should increase renewable energy, and 75 percent are willing to pay more to do so.
• 92 percent of American people support making cars and trucks more efficient.

The 44th president must make a clear, unwavering commitment to clean energy and back it up with concrete policies that move America toward a new energy future. The next president should set the following goals to achieve a clean energy future for America:

1. Reduce our dependence on oil by saving at least one-third of the oil we use today by 2025 through energy efficiency improvements and a switch to cleaner fuels.
2. Harness clean, renewable, homegrown energy sources like wind, solar and farm-based bio-fuels for at least a quarter of all energy needs by 2025.
3. Save energy with high performance homes, buildings and appliances so that by 2025 we use at least 10 percent less energy than we do today.
4. Invest in new energy technologies and resources by committing $30 billion over the next 10 years to the development of clean energy solutions and shifting funds away from dirty energy resources.

America’s next president can provide America with much needed leadership by focusing on the following ten policies:

1. Adopt the most stringent appliance efficiency standards.
2. Adopt the most stringent building efficiency standards.
3. Save oil through stronger fuel economy standards for vehicles and by promoting clean, alternative fuels.
4. Set a national renewable electricity standard that requires 25 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025.
5. Commit $30 billion in renewable energy funds over the next ten years.
6. Make research, development and deployment of solar energy a centerpiece of the nation’s energy plan.
7. Reform utility policies to reward efficiency and renewable energy.
8. Place a moratorium on all new coal-fired power plants.
9. Reject nuclear power including the re-licensing of aging nuclear power plants.
10. Control global warming pollution through a national carbon cap.