Renewable energy proposal addresses some vital concerns

Americans overwhelmingly support increasing the generation of electricity from renewable sources. And why shouldn’t they? Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass and geothermal can help us fight climate change, save American consumers big-time dollars, help rural economies and create thousands of manufacturing jobs.

Moving quickly to take full advantage of readily available clean energy options is especially pressing in light of U.S. Department of Energy projections that America’s demand for electricity will increase roughly 30 percent by 2030.
Today our nation has no long-term policy to spur our use of renewable resources while we strive to meet this projected increase in electricity demand. To change that we have teamed with almost 130 co-sponsors in the House to bring forward legislation that would require a growing share of the nation’s electricity to be generated from clean, safe, domestic renewable sources like wind and solar power. Our ”Renewable Portfolio Standard” legislation provides a market-based mechanism that calls for 20 percent of the nation’s electricity to be produced from renewable sources by the year 2020.

The environmental benefits derived from increasing the market share for renewable energy resources cannot be overstated. Renewable energy sources produce electricity without emitting conventional pollutants that contribute to acid rain, smog, mercury and other hazardous substances, and provide a crucial start in the effort to reduce the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Studies have shown that a standard like the one in our bill will reduce 400 million tons of carbon-dioxide pollution each year.

Salt Lake Tribune