House Republicans are taking the lead to lay out a concrete plan for our energy future with the introduction of “A Roadmap for America’s Energy Future” legislation.
At the beginning of March, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Chairman of the House Budget Committee Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), and Rep Rob Bishop (UT-1) introduced “A Roadmap for America’s Energy Future” which is a comprehensive energy plan to address the critical challenges constituting our current energy crisis.
The “Energy Roadmap” seeks to replace current US energy policy with initiatives that address both our short and long term energy needs. The bill is budget neutral and delivers lower energy prices, enhanced energy security and lasting economic growth.
The bill increases our capability to supply more of our energy domestically by lifting restrictions on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Outer Continental Shelf and oil shale in the Mountain West. It also eliminates barriers to expand the use of our extensive coal supplies to fill the tanks of American military vehicles and jets.
In order to reduce electricity costs and to provide enough base-load energy for the expansion of hybrid and advanced electric vehicles, the Energy Roadmap will triple our nation’s nuclear energy capacity . Nuclear energy is a carbon free energy source that will help ensure that 75% of the electricity generated here is carbon emission free.
The bill recognizes the importance of not being dependent upon a single fuel source for our national interest and establishes a renewable energy trust fund to promote wide scale development of affordable alternatives. The trust fund will be financed through revenue generated by new fossil fuel development that recognizes the development of conventional energy does not have to be contrary to the long term goal of renewables.
The Energy Roadmap goes above and beyond the Obama Administration’s carbon reduction goals. The key to this is the carbon reductions will not require massive energy rate hikes on American consumers. -Information Courtesy of The “All of the above” Energy Solution, Office of Congressman Devin Nunes
For more information on this bill, please visit www.nunes.house.gov.
Hello, I feel as though I need to share why we can never develop our own resources. Yes, it is regulation, yes, it is not having political will. However, did you know we are signed on to Millennium Development goal? Do you know that a greater number of our dollars are going to this each year? Did you know that the “green” economy is a done deal? Did you know that unless we extracate ourselves from this way of thinking that we will NEVER solve this problem at the national level?
Whether you or I want one or not, we WILL have a green economy.
The World Bank:
“Carbon finance facilitates the financial reward through carbon credits for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by emitters in developing countries. Activities of the World Bank Carbon Finance Unit (CFU) are part of the larger global effort to combat climate change, and are aligned with the World Bank and its Environment Department’s mission to reduce poverty and improve living standards in the developing world.”
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/ENVIRONMENT/EXTCARBONFINANCE/0,,menuPK:4125909~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:4125853,00.html
The White House:
“WASHINGTON – Today, the Obama Administration is scheduled to hold a briefing for members of Green the Block to discuss the need to involve vulnerable communities in the emerging green economy. Immediately following there will be a press avail at noon at the White House West Wing stakeout area to discuss opportunities in the new green economy and to announce the first major initiative of the Green the Block.
President Obama is committed to building a thriving clean energy economy that drives our national recovery through innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation. In order to realize the full potential of a clean-energy future, all Americans must be informed and have access to the new opportunities available.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Advisory-White-House-hosts-briefing-on-green-economy-opportunities/
US State Department:
“Pursuing economic growth while protecting the environment is a priority for the United States of America. It is important to highlight the social dimension of pursing a green economy. It is the poor who are most vulnerable to environmental degradation. We see the green economy as a means to raise living standards in a manner that also improves health and well-being for all segments of society, while at the same time using our resources in a more sustainable manner.
We view the green economy as covering a broad set of issues – improving resource efficiency and production practices in the use of energy, water management, materials, and natural resources; maintaining ecosystem services that are a foundation for green growth; developing and deploying clean energy technologies; improving consumer outreach efforts to promote green purchasing; developing human capacity for the green economy; and supporting efforts to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and trade barriers to environmentally friendly goods and services.”
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/remarks/2011/157991.htm
Department of Commerce:
““The Obama Administration’s agenda for economic recovery depends in part on efforts to develop clean energy and energy-efficiency technology,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “These reports provide important insights and are a valuable foundation to measure our success as that agenda moves forward. These efforts could put millions of people to work in high-skill, high-wage jobs as opportunities to export green products and services expand and nations seek more energy sources.”
The first of the two reports, “Measuring the Green Economy,” provides an important initial step toward measuring the size and composition of the emerging green economy and the number of green jobs it has created. By using publicly-available data on more than 20,000 products and services, the report shows that the green economy is well-poised for growth. ”
http://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2010/04/21/new-commerce-department-reports-lay-foundation-measuring-green-econom
National Governors Association:
“As governors across the country look at ways they can help build a green economy in their state, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) has commissioned Collaborative Economics Inc. (CEI) to prepare a profile of each state’s “green” economy. State profiles can be found by clicking on the map above. This data is designed to provide a detailed, empirical account of each state’s existing assets across multiple green sectors and serve as a foundation for identifying future growth areas and related needs. The profile is based on a methodology presented by CEI at the NGA Center’s Green Economy State Roundtable in April. ”
http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.9123e83a1f6786440ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=ce5bea15a18e3210VgnVCM1000005e00100aRCRD
US EPA:
“Global Statement of Need
Research Project Search
In September 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration, which identified the fundamental values essential for international relations in the 21st century, and set out a range of goals and targets relevant to environment and development. Subsequently, the UN Secretary General identified a series of eight Millennium Development Goals extracted from the declaration, and associated these with a series of 18 targets and 48 indicators.
During preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the UN Secretary General proposed the “WEHAB” initiative to provide focus and impetus to action in the five key thematic areas of water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity and ecosystem management. The thematic paper on biodiversity and ecosystem management clearly identifies the importance of biodiversity in food security, health, income generation, reduced vulnerability and ecosystem services.
As the Millennium Development Goals are concerned with very much the same issues – hunger, health, poverty and environmental sustainability – it has become increasingly clear that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services should be seen as an important factor in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. At the same time there is concern that the drive to achieve some of the goals in the absence of consideration of biodiversity issues may impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services potentially causing further problems.”
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/biodiversity/gsn.html