BUILDING A CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY

On June 26, 2009, I joined a majority of my colleagues in the House in approving H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act – legislation that would reduce global warming, make this country a leader in the field of advanced energy technology, create hundreds of thousands of new American manufacturing jobs, and cut consumers’ electricity rates substantially in the process.

This bill presents us with a tremendous opportunity to promote economic growth and job creation as we use American innovation and intellectual capital to solve one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the world today.

I have worked for years as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to reduce our dependence on oil imported from politically unstable parts of the world. I have worked successfully to increase federal research on more energy-efficient technology and alternative, often renewable, sources of energy like wind, solar, and biomass.

In recent years, I have recognized the pressing need to address the global climate change produced by our widespread consumption of fossil fuels. Fortunately, a lot of the advanced energy technology that I have been working to develop will help us curb global warming as well.

The United States needs to curb emissions of gases that cause global warming

The scientific evidence is now overwhelming that human-produced greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are raising global temperatures significantly – and that without significant action by the world’s governments, global warming will cause significant suffering and economic hardship in the coming decades. Most Members of Congress now understand that we need to take action to curb global warming.

I worked for over six months with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Chairman Ed Markey to draft a bill that would curb global warming by reducing our country’s emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years – and which would do so while creating good new American jobs and protecting consumers.

This legislation (H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act) would achieve these goals by promoting the development and adoption of more environmentally sustainable technologies to produce, transport, and use energy – all of which would promote economic growth and create good-paying high-tech "green" jobs. I’m very proud of what we have produced.

The bill would dramatically reduce US emissions of global warming gases

This legislation will reduce carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States below 2005 levels by 17 percent in the year 2020 – and by 83 percent in the year 2050.

The United States, with only 5 percent of the world’s population, currently produces a quarter of the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

The bill would improve our national security by ending the United States’ dependence on oil from unstable parts of the world

The United States currently consumes 25 percent of the oil produced around the world each year, and we import two-thirds of the 7.5 billion barrels of petroleum we consume each year.

The United States is incredibly vulnerable to oil price shocks caused by disruptions in world oil markets. Our dependence on foreign oil has also forced us to spend billions of dollars annually on military forces capable of ensuring the continued flow of oil from countries in the Middle East.

The bill would make the United States a leader in energy-efficient technology and alternative and renewable sources of energy

The American Clean Energy and Security Act contains a requirement for utilities to increase their use of clean energy, including wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. It also promotes the development and deployment of more energy-efficient equipment; technology that allows a cleaner use of coal, including carbon capture and sequestration technology; and consumer-friendly, high-mileage cars and automobile engines that rely on alternatives to petroleum like electric batteries and fuel cells.

This legislation would make the United States a leader in energy-efficient technology and alternative and renewable energy sources, much as the Apollo program made the United States a leader in technology fields ranging from health care to computers – and as the Defense Department’s ARPANET program made the United States the world leader in Internet and computer technology.

The bill would create hundreds of thousands of American manufacturing jobs

The American Clean Energy and Security Act will also help our nation's economy and create many new jobs. It is estimated that enactment of this legislation would spur up to $150 billion in new investments, which would produce nearly 2 million good new jobs. These jobs will be created in all sectors of the economy – from construction and manufacturing to transportation and computers.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently estimated that if American Clean Energy and Security Act were enacted, the nation’s gross domestic product would grow from $13 trillion in 2008 to over $22 trillion in 2030. Moreover, failure to adopt such legislation will increase the likelihood that the United States will lose millions of good-paying high-tech jobs to countries overseas.

This bill would reduce energy costs for consumers over the long run

America’s energy bill will increase by $420 billion annually within the next 5 years if we do nothing to reduce our dependence on oil and fossil fuels. That amounts to $3,500 annually for every family in the nation.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act will promote the creation of a new energy infrastructure for our country’s future. By relying less on old forms of energy, and by replacing them with new more energy-efficient energy, well will be able to reduce our energy costs. Research promoted by this legislation is estimated to eventually save each American household $3,900 a year.

The cost of the bill to consumers would be minimal – less than the cost of a postage stamp

I worked hard to ensure that the bill contained provisions that would hold electric utility customers harmless from the increased costs associated with continued reliance on coal-fired power plants.

This bill would establish the same kind of solution we put in place to successfully fight acid rain in 1990 -- after which electricity rates fell 10 percent and the U.S. economy added 16 million new jobs.

The bill takes money paid by greenhouse gas emitters and gives it to utility customers as a credit on their electric bill to keep their electricity costs low.

Two recent studies confirm the effectiveness of this approach. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that this legislation, if enacted, would cost the average household between 22 and 30 cents a day or $80 to $111 per year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that enactment of this legislation would cost the average household 48 cents a day – or $175 a year.

Moreover, households with lower incomes would actually be better off under this bill. For example, close to a third of the households in Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District (encompassing the City of Pittsburgh and 53 other municipalities in Allegheny County) would actually see their electric bills drop by about $40 a year. Higher income families would see their electricity costs increase by less than a dollar a day – about $200 a year.

Most of what people are saying about this bill is false

Critics of the bill have said that it will impose huge new energy costs on consumers. There’s no credible study backing them up – quite the opposite in fact. The Environmental Protection Agency and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office have both concluded that the bill would cost the average American household between 22 and 48 cents a day.

Some critics of the bill have asserted that the bill will destroy our industries and devastate our economy. We’ve heard these claims before about legislation to improve the environment and public health – and they’ve always proven to be false.

The bill is supported by a number of energy-intensive companies, and labor unions representing workers in energy-intensive industries – including electric utilities, car companies, manufacturers – as well as consumer groups and environmental organizations, among many others.

I was personally responsible for writing the part of the bill that protects energy-intensive trade-sensitive industries in the United States like steel and aluminum from lower-cost products from foreign countries that haven’t adopted comparable global warming measures. This provision also provides financial incentives to energy-intensive industries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.

This bill is necessary to make our country a leader in the technologies that I believe will drive the global economy in the coming decades. If we don’t get on board now, we’re going to be left behind, and our economy will suffer for decades to come.

Conclusion

The American Clean Energy and Security Act passed the House by a vote of 219 to 212. It must now be considered by the Senate.

I firmly believe that enactment of this legislation would benefit our children and grandchildren by leaving them a better environment and a booming economy, and I will continue to work to get this bill to the President’s desk for his signature. Click here for more information on this bill.


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The 111TH CONGRESS (2009-2011) The Library of Congress: THOMAS



 

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