On March 5, the state Senate approved a measure to increase Colorado’s renewable energy standard (RES) to 30% by 2020, and on March 8th, the House finalized the bill, sending it to Gov. Bill Ritter for his signature.
The legislation confirms Colorado’s leadership in nurturing the development of clean, renewable energy just six years after voters approved the state’s first RES – 10% by 2015. In 2006 the state legislature doubled the RES to 20% by 2020, and with enactment of the latest measure only California will have a set a more ambitious state requirement than Colorado, 33% by 2020.
You’ve heard of greenwashing, but maybe you should also be on the lookout for “cleanwashing.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the lead proponents of a climate bill, wants the Senate to include coal and nuclear power in a so-called “clean energy” mandate.
Graham is circulating draft legislation that would replace a provision in the current Senate climate bill requiring utilities to produce a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources—known as a renewable electricity standard, or RES. Graham’s proposed mandate instead involves ramping up the amount of electricity from “clean” sources over time—13 percent by 2012, 25 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2050. But the big question is what “clean” means. According to Graham’s draft language, new nuclear power and coal with carbon-capture technology would qualify, in addition to renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and hydropower. This would be a boon to the nuclear industry, which has pushed hard to be included as part of any clean energy mandate.
A bill seeking to control the state’s contribution to climate change has been introduced in the Legislature.
Gov Jim Doyle and supporters are holding a press conference this morning in a just a few minutes on the bill, which they say would help Wisconsin become a leader in green jobs. But opponents of the bill say it could put a job-killing burden on state businesses already struggling because of the economic downturn.
Among other changes, the sweeping 174-page bill would mandate higher renewable energy use in fuels and power generation and 75 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and would require that by 2030 each newly constructed residential or commercial building will use no more energy than is generated on-site using renewable resources.
The new Forbes rankings for best country for Business in 2009 are out, and Denver has taken the top spot for the second year in a row.
Joe Romm reminds us that Denmark is one of the greenest countries on the planet:
Denmark has one of the strongest cap-and-trade commitments in the world — 20% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. And it has a requirement that 20 percent of its overall energy mix be renewable by the end of 2011. And its efficiency measures are such that Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard said last year, “In 2025, (Denmark’s) total energy consumption will not have risen in 50 years.”
The United States would be wise to follow Denmark’s lead by recognizing that our climate and economic crises share an increasingly overlapping set of solutions.
