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| OPINION: Our Alternative Energy Future |
| Mark Udall | 7/28/10 |
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Colorado's U.S. Senator Mark Udall presented the following thoughts from the Senate floor yesterday:
Madam President, I rise today to urge us to seize an opportunity that is critically important to our nation’s economic recovery and our long-term energy future. By establishing a national renewable electricity standard – otherwise known as an RES – we will, without a doubt, spur a new clean energy economy. Many of my colleagues agree with me. Let me specifically thank Senator Dorgan and Senator Tom Udall – for joining me to urge adoption of a strong federal RES.
Establishing energy security – perhaps above any other issue – will assure our nation’s future success. Quite simply, a 21st century clean energy policy is instrumental to our nation’s economic growth, a foundation for creating jobs now and into the future, and a linchpin to our national security.
The philosopher George Santayana famously wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If I may turn that saying on its head a bit, I would like to review a little Colorado history in the hopes that we can repeat it.
 Back in 2004, Colorado took a big, brave step forward and embraced the emerging clean energy economy. That year I led a bipartisan ballot initiative with the former Republican Speaker of the Colorado House, Lola Spradley, in a campaign to convince the voters of Colorado to approve a state-based RES that would harness renewable resources like the sun, the wind, and geothermal. We barnstormed the state, speaking over and over again – to anyone who would listen. There was a lot of industry opposition to an RES, and dire predictions that it would cost consumers money and damage Colorado’s economy.
These were familiar arguments and I had witnessed defeat on this issue before. The Colorado legislature had voted against an RES four times – including my first bill to establish an RES in 1997, when I was a member of the Colorado House.
We couldn’t convince elected officials to vote for an RES at the State House, but Colorado voters understood the value and promise of renewable energy. In the end in 2004, they approved Amendment 37 and established a target that 10 percent of Colorado’s electricity would come from renewable energy resources by 2015, becoming the first state to create an RES by a voter-passed initiative.
Our clearly defined clean energy goal inspired Colorado to rise to the challenge... and, in only three short years, we were on pace to meet that 10 percent RES goal... well ahead of schedule. The Colorado legislature saw this rapid success and decided to really take the bull by the horns. They approved an increase to a 20 percent RES by 2020, another aggressive but reachable goal. Xcel Energy, a major Colorado utility who opposed the RES in 2004, fully supported the increase once they saw renewable energy resources could provide clean, cost-effective energy to their customers, and, by the way, how it was good for business. Xcel is now the nation’s number one provider of wind energy and a leading proponent of a strong RES.
But, Madam President, Colorado was not done. So, earlier this year, the Colorado legislature approved and Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill to increase the RES even further: to 30 percent by 2020. This makes the Colorado RES the second most aggressive standard in the nation, only after California.
According to the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy, over two thirds of the states now have an RES or renewable energy goal. If we here in Congress can think boldly – and learn from Colorado’s success and the success of other states – our nation can position itself to take the lead in the new global clean energy economy.
I know some still like to look backward instead of forward, and continue to offer dire predictions that an RES would cost consumers, be too expensive or kill jobs. But I have to tell you that in Colorado, those predictions simply turned out to be false. In fact, just the opposite was proven true.
With the RES in place, the Colorado clean energy economy has sparked to life. Clean energy companies have begun sprouting up all across our state creating sustainable American jobs for our friends and neighbors. SMA Solar, one of the world's leading producers of solar inverters, established manufacturing facilities in Colorado. Abound Solar, a successful thin-film solar company spun out of Colorado State University, opened a manufacturing facility in Longmont, Colorado, creating hundreds of jobs in that community, and just this month announced they too were going to expand their facility.
Vestas, the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines, also has taken root in our great state and has already created over 1,000 highly skilled manufacturing jobs at its three Colorado factories since 2007. They also recently announced a major hiring initiative to employ hundreds of additional workers at its three Colorado factories in the next 12 to 18 months. The presence of Vestas’ manufacturing plant has attracted supply chain business, as evidenced by the growth of Hexcel Corp. Hexcel established a manufacturing facility in Windsor, CO and produces carbon fiber and other components for Vestas right in our back yard.
Madam President, as you can tell, these are clear examples of how an RES can create jobs and growth in our economy. In fact, the RES – combined with other clean energy efforts Colorado has initiated – has helped create nearly 20,000 new jobs in my state since 2004. Estimates are that the solar energy requirement in the RES alone has brought nearly 1,500 jobs to Colorado; jobs that have helped invigorate local economies. There are many similar success stories around the state.
In my mind, the question is obvious: how can we replicate the success Colorado has had – on the national level? Obviously, it helps to be blessed with the natural resources we have in our state. All of our states are created differently, with different resources.
I know that my colleagues in the South are tracking this issue very closely for that reason. They have concerns that their states do not have enough renewable energy resources to meet a national RES without an increase in electricity prices.
However, a report released just this week, by the Nicholas Institute at Duke University, found that the South has more renewable resources than expected, and could reasonably receive 15% of its electricity from wind, biomass and solar energy by 2020 – and without an increase in electricity costs.
Now, I know this is just one recent study, but as we have seen in Colorado, renewable resources are only one part of the equation. Once there is a market in place and the utilities become familiar with renewable energy, meeting an RES becomes increasingly achievable.
In fact, recent analysis indicates that wind, geothermal and biomass are already cost-competitive with traditional electricity production. We can change how the U.S. generates and approaches energy use to take full advantage of the renewable energy resources in each state, and create new markets and business opportunities for a clean energy future.
The clean energy economy is one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century. The global demand for clean energy is growing by one trillion dollars every year. The lesson to be learned from Colorado is that an effective RES can unleash the American entrepreneurial spirit. We must pursue forward-thinking policies that will help America seize and lead this growing market. That is why I urge my colleagues to support the strongest possible RES in any energy legislation brought to the floor this year.
I can understand the hesitation that some of my colleagues feel about a robust RES. I saw that hesitation firsthand in Colorado for many years. I know some would like to simply dip their toes into the water when it comes to renewable energy.
But make no mistake – we are in a race against foreign competitors and are quickly being left behind.
I recently returned from China where I discussed clean energy issues with American businesses located there. China will soon be the owners of the world’s largest wind and solar power facilities. China is pursuing renewable energy and clean energy technology so ambitiously, not because they want to save the planet, but because it makes good business and economic sense.
This week we learned that China’s energy use surpassed the United States’ for the first time ever, but they are taking bolder action to address their growing demand. China also announced last week that it is considering plans to invest $738 billion dollars over the next 10 years in clean energy development, nearly the size of our entire Recovery Act last year. Just imagine, their economy uses a comparable amount of energy, but they take clean energy so seriously that they plan to invest a stimulus-sized amount of money solely in renewables. I saw it firsthand... they are ready to eat our lunch when it comes to clean energy.
Madam President, because I do not want us to miss this historic opportunity to implement a strong RES, I also want to take a moment to explain what standard I believe we must meet.
When you set a standard, you set it at something you can be proud of, one that spurs innovation and the creativity to achieve it. Senator Tom Udall and myself filed a bill last year in the Senate – which previously had passed the U.S. House – mandating an RES of 25% renewable electricity by 2025. Senator Dorgan has advocated a similarly aggressive standard.
It is important that we aim for these ambitious standards. Why?
If we invest smartly in a robust RES, a recent Navigant report estimates that the US economy could add nearly 274,000 jobs. These are good-paying American jobs that support our energy independence. I can’t think of a much better deal than this for Americans.
Make no mistake about it. This country must have an all-of-the-above energy policy. Conservation and energy efficiency efforts offer the quickest way to reduce energy demand today. Nuclear energy and natural gas can and should fill a larger share of our energy portfolio as they both are cleaner fuels. In addition, we all know that America will be dependent on fossil fuels for years to come. All of these elements should be in America’s energy mix and we must acknowledge that to really embrace 21st century solutions.
But when you look at the future demands for clean energy and the economic opportunities ahead of us, renewable resources hold the greatest promise. And the more home-grown renewable energy we can produce, the less money we need to spend buying oil from foreign nations who wish to do us harm. I don’t think anyone in this chamber can argue with the proposition that we should be moving aggressively toward energy independence.
It is time we made a concerted national effort to reclaim our position at the front of the pack. We should be harnessing the wind and sun and other renewable resources here in America, and putting Americans to work in good-paying jobs developing, building, and leading the clean energy revolution.
So I urge my colleagues to work with Senators Dorgan, Udall of New Mexico, and me to pass a strong renewable electricity standard. With all humility, let’s follow Colorado’s successful RES example … and let’s adopt a clean energy policy that drives innovation, inspires entrepreneurs, and delivers common-sense American solutions to meet our 21st century energy challenges. |
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