I am very pleased to see that energy independence and climate change have been pushed to the top of the national agenda in recent years. Reducing our dependence on foreign oil and curbing the effects of climate change have been priorities of mine since I first entered the Congress, and I will continue to work hard to see that these important values are reflected in public policy.
Promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency is about much more than being good stewards of our natural resources, although that aim is noble enough. We can no longer place our economic livelihoods at the mercy of unstable and unfriendly governments, and reliance on oil alone means that the effects of catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina ripple forcefully out to our gas tanks and heating bills. Americans have the ingenuity and drive to create a diverse energy portfolio and to find new sources of energy, and I believe that we can harness these talents to usher in a new era of energy independence.
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
We are lucky to have some of the federal efforts toward creating new, clean sources of energy centered right in Golden, Colorado at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). As co-chair of the 218-member Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus in the House, I have worked for years to increase – or at a minimum, hold steady – funding for the Department of Energy’s renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development programs at NREL. I am committed to continuing my efforts so that the DOE can redouble its efforts in exploring renewable energy and energy efficiency and that NREL is given the resources it needs to lead these efforts effectively.
Most recently, the House passed H.R. 3221, comprehensive energy legislation that will begin the process of putting our country on a path toward energy independence, increased national security and economic growth, and addressing global warming. Among its many important provisions, the House bill includes a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), added by an amendment I led with my cousin Rep. Tom Udall, Rep. Todd Platts, and others. Similar to Colorado’s standard, the provision requires electric utilities to acquire 15 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2020, allowing utilities to meet up to 4% of the 15% requirement using energy efficiency. The passage of the RES amendment was a great victory – the first time an RES has ever passed the House of Representatives. Implementing a federal RES will benefit rural communities, save consumers money, reduce air pollution, and increase reliability and energy security.
Climate Change
Several events over the past year have helped clarify the agreement among scientists, the public, industry, and public officials that climate change is a challenge that our society must address.
Most recently, the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) released sections of its Fourth Assessment Report. The first report highlighted the growing scientific consensus that human influence is causing the climate to change. The second report provides a powerful statement of the impacts of climate change around the world. The IPCC international process has government support from over one hundred countries, including strong involvement from the United States. These reports document that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that sea temperatures are rising, glaciers are melting, and air temperatures worldwide are increasing, all of which will have major impacts on the world that we know.
We need to move beyond debates about whether global change is occurring. I continue to strongly believe that we must do all we can to soften our impact on the environment and to slow the pace of detrimental climate change. But we are going to have to meet this challenge with a careful mix of mitigation and adaptation. We must acknowledge the interdependence of our social, economic and environmental systems and learn to anticipate and adjust to changes that will inevitably occur.
In Congress I have tried to balance our need to act quickly and decisively with the need to mitigate the potential effects on our economy. An essential part of this is creating incentives for entrepreneurs to build green technologies and industries. In this spirit I introduced the Department of Energy Carbon Capture and Storage Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 2007 which, if enacted, will spur research for industry to capture the carbon dioxide released during manufacturing and energy generation and store it deep underground, helping to lower the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. I’m pleased that comprehensive energy legislation passed in the House in August includes language from my bill.
When it comes to climate change, the more we know the better. Four years ago I authored legislation to expand federal research on global change. As reintroduced in the 110th Congress, my bill, the Global Change Research and Data Management Act of 2007 (H.R. 906), reorients the goals of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) to improve federal strategies for mitigating and adapting to the impacts of global change. This legislation also encourages the participation of regional stakeholders so that the information is relevant to state and local decision makers. I am pleased that the House of Representatives included this language in the recently-passed energy bill.