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Clean Energy and Lower Bills

"America simply cannot afford an energy policy that leaves us dependent upon fossil fuels, beholden to hostile foreign governments, and responsible for degrading our environment. We must embrace a new energy future that invests in energy efficiency, promotes renewable energy and reduces carbon pollution."

 

Spotlight on Energy

Energy efficiency creates good manufacturing and installation jobs, cuts energy bills, and improves the environment.  Rep. Welch is the leading proponent of energy efficiency in the House of Representatives.  Building on Vermont’s national leadership in the field of energy efficiency, he has advanced legislation to cut energy bills for homeowners, farmers, businesses, schools, apartment buildings and government buildings.  In 2015, President Obama signed into law bipartisan legislation authored by Rep. Welch to improve the efficiency of commercial buildings, water heaters, and federal buildings.   

Rep. Welch has also been a forceful advocate for renewable energy resources.  He is fighting for national standards for renewable energy and strongly supports incentives to develop clean energy resources and the good jobs that go with them.  

Click here for my Energy Resources Guide

More on Clean Energy and Lower Bills

December 13, 2016 In The News

By Mike Polhamus

Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House said Tuesday he intends to fight any efforts to expand a massive nationwide subsidy to corn farmers instituted during the George W. Bush administration.

The subsidy, which requires that gasoline contain a certain percentage of ethanol made from corn, hurts Vermont farmers by making corn for livestock scarce and therefore expensive, said Democratic Rep. Peter Welch at a press event in Burlington.

September 8, 2016 Press Release
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) today delivered remarks at the opening of a House-Senate conference committee tasked with reconciling differences between two versions of a major bill encompassing energy and natural resources issues. Welch, a member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and House leader on energy efficiency issues, was appointed to the conference committee by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in May.
June 22, 2016 Page

"Thank you, Mr. Chariman, for this hearing. The RFS mandate has been a well-intended flop. It has not helped the environment, it has hurt it. It has increased food costs in this country, and in foreign countries.

May 11, 2016 Press Release
U.S. Representatives Bill Flores (R-TX), Peter Welch (D-VT), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) have introduced bipartisan legislation to address issues surrounding the fuel mandates of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Food and Fuel Consumer Protection Act, H.R. 5180, limits the RFS mandate to levels that our nation’s cars, trucks, boats and other small engines can safely accommodate.
April 1, 2016 Press Release
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Friday joined 205 other current and former members of Congress in filing an amicus brief supporting the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which would protect public health and create jobs by setting the first-ever carbon pollution standards for power plants, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gasses. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considering a challenge to the Clean Power Plan in West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.
November 14, 2015 Press Release
Representative Peter Welch today released the following statement in response to a misleading television attack ad being aired in Vermont this weekend by the corn ethanol industry. The ad attacks Welch for his leadership of a broad, bipartisan House coalition fighting to reform the federal mandate to blend corn ethanol into the gasoline used to fuel cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles, as well as the small engines that power boats, chainsaws and lawnmowers. The mandate is known as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Previously, Welch and his colleagues worked to successfully repeal two federal subsidies to the corn ethanol industry.
October 14, 2015 Press Release
Following up on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) testimony before key House subcommittees in September, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) today sent a letter to the NRC demanding Vermont have a seat at the table in decommissioning Entergy’s Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon, Vermont.
October 7, 2015 Press Release
After touring a West Virginia coal mine and convening roundtables of coal workers and workforce officials last week, Representatives David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced legislation today to assist coal workers who have lost their jobs due to a downturn in the coal industry. The Healthy Employee Loss Prevention Act (HELP Act) would provide retraining and job search assistance to displaced workers in coal communities across the country.
August 3, 2015 Press Release
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) released the following statement in response to today's release of the final Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule.
June 11, 2015 Press Release
Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) today received the Energy Leadership Award from the U.S. Energy Association and Johnson Controls for his exemplary leadership in instituting and advancing energy efficiency in the United States.