[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E197-E198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE INTRODUCTION OF THE AMERICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 4, 2009

  Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the ``American 
Renewable Energy Act'' to create a national renewable electricity 
standard that will revitalize our economy by creating hundreds of 
thousands of green jobs, save consumers billions of dollars on their 
energy bills and reduce our Nation's global warming pollution by 
dramatically increasing our use of clean, renewable power. In the 110th 
Congress, the House repeatedly passed a national renewable electricity 
standard in overwhelming, bipartisan votes requiring that 15 percent of 
our electricity come from renewable energy sources like wind, solar and 
biomass and efficiency gains by 2020. The American Renewable Energy Act 
that I am introducing today would build upon that legislation and 
follows President Obama's goal that we generate 25 percent of our 
electricity from renewables by the year 2025.
  Electric power generation is responsible for roughly 40 percent of 
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions--the most prevalent of the heat-trapping 
gases causing global warming. Right now, the combustion of fossil fuels 
like coal, oil, and natural gas currently produce more than 70 percent 
of U.S. electricity. However, the way that we generate electricity is 
already beginning to change dramatically.
  In 2007, we installed 5,244 megawatts of new wind generation, which 
accounted for 35 percent of all new generation that came online, second 
only to natural gas. And in 2008, the United States installed more than 
8,300 megawatts of new wind capacity--over 40 percent of all new 
generation that was brought online. That newly installed capacity in 
2008 led to the creation of more than 35,000 jobs in the wind industry 
over the last year.
  Much of that renewable generation is the result of states across the 
country that are putting policies in place to incentivize renewable 
generation. Already, 27 States and the District of Columbia have 
adopted renewable electricity standards at the State level. Adopting a 
national renewable electricity standard will further unleash our 
technological innovation and allow for the development of renewable 
resources all across the country.
  Every region of the country has renewable resources waiting to be 
tapped. For instance, the Southeast is home to nearly a third of the 
biomass feedstock potential in the entire country. Special power plants 
can burn biomass exclusively and existing coal plants can co-fire 
biomass in their fuel stream without costly equipment upgrades, 
replacing 15 percent or more of fossil fuel needs with renewable fuel. 
Customer-sited solar photovoltaic cells would also earn triple credits 
under the legislation that I am introducing today, making the target 
much easier to achieve in places like Florida and Georgia where the 
solar photovoltaic resource is estimated to be 83-85 percent of the 
best solar resources in the world.
  Adopting a national renewable electricity standard can reinvigorate 
our economy and our manufacturing sectors by creating an entire new 
cadre of green-collar jobs. Each wind turbine requires 220 to nearly 
400 tons of steal to produce and workers to produce it. From the 
revamped Maytag plant that is now producing wind turbines in Iowa to 
the former Ohio manufacturing plant that President Obama visited on his 
way to Washington, alternative energy can revitalize our declining 
manufacturing centers all across our country. Adopting a 25 percent 
renewable electricity standard will create more than 350,000 green jobs 
by 2020--allowing the people who most need work to do the work that 
most needs to be done in order to address the climate crisis.
  Moreover, adopting a renewable electricity standard will save 
consumers money by reducing their energy bills. Adopting a national 
standard of 25 percent will save consumers more than $49 billion over 
the next decade in lower energy bills, while channeling more than $70 
billion in new investment into renewable technologies.
  The American people overwhelming support a national renewable 
electricity standard. According to a December poll conducted by the

[[Page E198]]

Washington Post and ABC News, 84 percent of Americans support requiring 
utilities to increase their use of wind, solar and other renewable 
sources of power.
  President Obama understands the importance of increasing our use of 
renewable energy to unleash a clean energy revolution that will get our 
economy moving again. The States all across the country that have 
already put similar policies in place understand the need for action. 
The overwhelming majority of the American people understand it. Now it 
is time for the Congress to take action to unleash the clean energy 
revolution by adopting a national renewable electricity standard.

                          ____________________