Against the backdrop of a sea of pinwheels dancing in the wind, representing New Mexico’s vast wind and other renewable energy resources, environmental advocates joined representatives from the University of New Mexico and the offices of Senator Jeff Bingaman and Representative Tom Udall, among others, to applaud the Congressmen’s work to create a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES).
“Increasing our use of renewable energy is critical to reducing global warming pollution, protecting our environment and strengthening the economy,” said Kelly Seibert, a campaign coordinator with Environment New Mexico.
The press conference took place at the newly remodeled Roosevelt Park in Albuquerque, with hundreds of pinwheels representing clean, renewable wind energy blowing in the background.
Last month, Senator Bingaman sponsored an amendment that would have created a national RES that would have required utilities to generate 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2015. Although Republican opposition led by Senator Pete Domenici ultimately meant the final Senate energy bill passed without this amendment, Representative Tom Udall is proposing a 20 percent RES (Udall-Platts, HR 969) that could become a part of the House energy bill.
More than twenty states and the District of Columbia have already enacted renewable electricity standards and ten states have recently increased or accelerated their standards, including New Mexico which doubled its standard to 20 percent by 2020.
“This policy has proven to be an effective, efficient and popular driver of expanded renewable energy development. It is time to bring those benefits to the rest of the nation,” said Christopher Cade, a field manager at Environment New Mexico.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), developing our renewable energy resources will create jobs, save consumers money and bolster rural economies. Recent analyses by UCS found that requiring 20 percent of electric generation from renewable energy sources by the year 2020 would create over 355,000 new high-paying jobs and save consumers at least $49 billion on their electric and natural gas bills. In addition, by shifting away from fossil fuels, America can diversify and secure its energy supply while reducing global warming pollution.
A 2006 analysis by Environment New Mexico found that by obtaining 20 percent of our electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, we could cut global warming pollution over 500 million tons, the equivalent of taking approximately 89 million cars off the road.
Similarly, a report released earlier this year by the renewable energy scientists of the American Solar Energy Society indicates that renewable energy alone can help us reduce our global warming emissions 26-34 percent by 2050. The recently released U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report underscores the urgent need for these reductions.
“In a time when energy costs are rising, and global warming threatens to impact rising sea levels, increased droughts and more intense tropical storms, we need a new energy future. Increasing our use of renewable energy is a critical step toward a cleaner, more secure energy future,” said Seibert.
