Top Story
Important first step toward clean energy
More renewable energy good for Commonwealth
As the U.S. Senate considers historic energy legislation, we’re building support to ensure that we pass a bill that sets us on the path to repower America with clean energy.
We worked to make sure that the Virginia delegation heard from Virginians who support action on global warming and believe in the power of clean energy jobs.
Through e-mail and phone calls, we urged our members statewide to tell representatives to support strong renewable energy policies that would tap into our capacity for wind and solar power.
On June 26, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act by a vote of 219 to 212. We helped to garner the support of five of Virginia’s representatives. The downside is that the bill doesn’t include everything that we would have liked.
A starting point
While the bill is an important first step, we need to do more to capitalize on the power of renewable energy. Moving forward, Environment Virginia will be advocating increasing the share of our electricity demand that is met by renewable energy. We are calling on Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb to support a 25 percent by 2025 renewable energy standard.
Virginia has abundant resources for renewable energy. Much of our state receives more than four hours of peak sunlight per day, equal to most of the state of California. The winds off the shores of Virginia Beach could provide as much as 25 percent of our energy needs. The development of these resources will create clean energy jobs. These are jobs that cannot be outsourced and will help restart Virginia’s economic engine.
We know that getting more clean energy will not be easy, but with the continued efforts of our members in support of clean energy, we can pass America’s first comprehensive clean energy and global warming bill.
