Support Green Climate Legislation

To: Sustainable Energy Advocates

From: Ken Bossong, Sustainable Energy Network (301-588-4741)

Below is a proposed group letter (including the signers to date) to the Members of the U.S. Senate regarding pending climate legislation.

It urges that energy efficiency and renewable energy coupled with an aggressive cap on greenhouse gas emissions be made the cornerstones of any climate legislation approved by the U.S. Senate. It also states that climate legislation should not become a vehicle for supporting or expanding the use of nuclear power and fossil fuels nor should it be used as an opportunity for rolling-back existing environmental protections.

If you would like to sign on, the deadline is:

MONDAY - MARCH 15 (6:00 p.m. - eastern time)

If you would like to sign on, please provide:

Your Name
Your Organization **
Your City & State

** If you wish to sign on only as an INDIVIDUAL, please specify that clearly (you may include an organizational affiliation as well if you wish - but it will be listed "for identification purposes only").

The letter will be faxed on Tuesday (March 16) to all Senate offices as well as e-mailed to all Senate staff contacts we have. In addition, a pro-forma news release will sent along with the letter to key members of the media.

Thank you.

P.S. Please excuse us if you receive this letter more than once - we are using several mailing lists that partially overlap.

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SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NETWORK
8606 Greenwood Avenue, #2
Takoma Park, MD 20912
[email protected]


SUPPORT A CARBON CAP PLUS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
BUT NOT NUCLEAR POWER AND FOSSIL FUELS
IN CLIMATE LEGISLATION


March 16, 2010

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Attn: Energy and Climate Staff

Dear Senator:

We, the undersigned XX sustainable energy, environmental, business, and other organizations (and XX individual advocates), are writing to urge that energy efficiency and renewable energy coupled with an aggressive cap on greenhouse gas emissions be made the cornerstones of any climate legislation approved by the U.S. Senate. Likewise, climate legislation should not become a vehicle for supporting or expanding the use of nuclear power and fossil fuels nor should it be used as an opportunity for rolling-back existing environmental protections.

We believe the three primary components of any climate bill should be the following:

CAP ON EMISSIONS: The United States should establish a mandatory cap on allowable greenhouse gas emissions as well as both a near-term and a longer-term schedule for reducing overall emissions to levels consistent with the best science now available (e.g., 30% or more by 2020 and 50% or more by 2030). The target of a 17% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 included in the recently-passed House bill is almost certainly inadequate and needs to be strengthened significantly in Senate legislation if the worst consequences of climate change are to be avoided.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The cornerstone of near-term U.S. climate policy should be quickly reducing energy waste and fossil fuel consumption. The experience of other industrialized nations coupled with dozens of governmental, business, academic, and private analyses over the past three decades consistently document that the potential exists for sharply reducing U.S. energy use while simultaneously creating jobs, protecting the environment and low-income consumers, and sustaining a good quality of life. Rapidly curbing energy consumption by 30% or more is well within reach. Consequently, a Senate climate bill should greatly strengthen energy efficiency goals including the creation of mandatory national standards for residential and commercial buildings, greatly-expanded use of co-generation and combined heat & power in the utility sector, and much more aggressive efficiency standards for lighting, appliances, industrial equipment, and motor vehicles.

RENEWABLE ENERGY: While both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have informally embraced the goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025, this target - or an even stronger one - should be formally incorporated in Senate climate or energy legislation. However, the measure's current renewable energy provisions are far too weak. For example, in the electricity sector, the Senate bill only envisions a Renewable Electricity Standard of 3% by 2013 - even though non-hydro renewables are already producing almost 4% of the nation's electricity and will likely reach 6% (or more) by 2013 under a business-as-usual scenario. The Senate's RES target for the near-term should be at least doubled if not tripled or quadrupled and made significantly more aggressive for the longer-term as well as coupled with other measures to drive renewable energy development.

By focusing on this three-pronged strategy (i.e., carbon cap + efficiency + renewables), it may prove unnecessary - for the moment at least - to tackle either of the two most controversial options for addressing climate change: creating a "trading system" for emissions credits or imposing carbon taxes.

On the other hand, climate legislation should not support any of the following:

FOSSIL FUELS: There should not be an expansion of federal support for fossil fuels. Rather, U.S. climate policy should include the aggressive phase-out of coal-fired plants (beginning with the dirtiest) and oil use in the transportation sector. Likewise, federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industries should be ramped down considerably, if not completely eliminated. If there appear to be promising and near-term technologies that can burn coal with vastly-reduced CO2 and other emissions as well as minimal environmental impacts, the investment burden should be borne primarily by the coal and utility industries, not the American taxpayer.

NUCLEAR POWER: There should be no financial or regulatory incentives for new nuclear construction or relicensing of existing plants. Fifty years of experience coupled with ever-escalating price estimates for a new generation of reactors should provide sufficient evidence that nuclear power cannot be seen as a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels or solution to climate change. Additional nuclear reactors would pose safety, proliferation, and terrorist threats as well as generate highly-radioactive waste. Furthermore, while investments in the nuclear sector could not bring new reactors on-line within the timeframe and on a scale needed to address global warming, they would drain financial resources from far more-promising efficiency and renewable energy alternatives.

ENVIRONMENTAL ROLL-BACKS: Climate legislation should not be employed as a vehicle for rolling back existing environmental or human-health safeguards. In particular, the Senate climate bill should leave intact the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate CO2 emissions if legislation approved by the Congress or other regulations issued by the Administration prove to be insufficient. Similarly, current provisions of the Clean Air Act requiring upgrades of coal-burning electricity plants should also be left intact - if not strengthened.

In conclusion, we believe it is imperative that Congress act now and act aggressively to address the threats posed by climate change. In addition, we believe that greenhouse gas emissions can be cut swiftly and in an economically and environmentally sound way by means of a national emissions cap that is realized through a combination of aggressive energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. However, we also believe that climate legislation that promotes continued or expanded use of fossil fuels and/or nuclear power, or which rolls back existing environmental safeguards, could result in a bill that might actually be worse than no bill at all.

We appreciate your consideration of these views.

cc. Members, U.S. Senate
Senate Committees on Environment & Public Works, Energy & Natural Resources, Finance


Sincerely,

ORGANIZATIONAL SIGNERS

Rob Ashmore
Aeonsolar
Jersey City, NJ

David Swanson
After Downing Street
Charlottesville, VA

John Atkeison, Director - Climate & Clean Energy Programs
Alliance for Affordable Energy
New Orleans, LA

Dr. Lewis Cuthbert
Alliance for a Clean Environment
Pottstown, PA

Rochelle Becker, Executive Director
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
San Luis Obispo, CA

Joyce Martin, JD; Director - Environmental Health Policy
American Association on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities
Washington, DC

Rita Schenck
American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
Institute for Environmental Research & Education
Vashon, WA

Casey Sterr, Executive Director
Appalachia - Science in the Public Interest
Mt. Vernon, KY

Greg Hanson
Aqua Sun International
Minden, NV

Chamomile Nusz, Program & Marketing Director
Artha Sustainable Living Center LLC
Amherst, WI

Dr. Robert A. Bardwell
Bardwell Consulting Ltd
Denver, CO

Kevin Kamps
Beyond Nuclear
Takoma Park, MD

Fernando Ausin
BioTU
San Francisco, CA

Louis Zeller, Science Director
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Glendale Springs, NC

Jeff Perlman
Bright Power
New York, NY

Bart Sheldrake & Whitney Painter
Buglet Solar Electric Installation
Golden, CO

Sandra Gavutis, Executive Director
C-10 Foundation
Newburyport, MA

James P. Sweeney, President
CCI Energy, LLC & Sustainable New Energy
Plymouth, MA

William Snape
Center for Biological Diversity
Washington, DC and Tucson, AZ

W. Donald Hudson, Jr.; President
Chewonki Foundation
Wiscasset, ME

Chris Fried
Chris Fried Solar (and)
Martha's Vineyard Peace Council
Tisbury, MA

David Hughes, Executive Director
Citizen Power
Pittsburgh, PA

Charlie Higley
Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

James J. Provenzano
Clean Air Now
Los Angeles, CA

Michael J. Keegan
Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes
Monroe, MI

Patrick J. Griebel
Consolidated Solar Technologies
Albuquerque, NM

Keith Gunter
Citizens' Resistance at Fermi Two
Monroe, MI

Joseph Lancaster
Cogenic, LLC
Rochester, NY

Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener, Director
Interreligious Eco-Justice Network
Connecticut's Interfaith Power & Light
West Hartford, CT

Kimchi Rylander, Outreach Coordinator
Culture's Edge dba Earthaven Ecovillage
Black Mountain, NC

Mark Trechock, Staff Director
Dakota Resource Council
Dickinson, ND

Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
Rapid City, SD

Stephen M. Brittle
Don't Waste Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

Alice Hirt
Don't Waste Michigan
Holland, MI

Al Fritsch
Earth Healing, Inc.
Ravenna, KY

Dan Brook
Eco-Eating
San Jose, CA

Kathy Tibbits, Volunteer Staff Attorney
ecoLaw Institute, Inc.
Stillwell, OK

Mary Davis, Director
EcoPerspectives
(a project of Earth Island Institute)
Lexington, KY

Gwen Farry, BVM
Eighth Day Center for Justice
Chicago, IL

Judy Braiman, President
Empire State Consumer Project
Rochester, NY

Kat A. Donnelly, President
EMpower Devices
(PhD Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Cambridge, MA

Stephen Guesman
Energize Alabama
Birmingham, AL

Dave Room
Energy Preparedness
Oakland, CA

Bret Fanshaw, Environmental Associate
Environment Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

Judith Johnsrud
Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power
State College, PA

Bonnie A. New, MD MPH
Environmental & Occupational Health Consulting
Houston, TX

Lillian Light, President
Environmental Priorities Network
Manhattan Beach, CA

Linda Ochs, Director
Finger Lakes Citizens for the Environment
Waterloo, NY

Bob Darby
Food Not Bombs
Atlanta, GA

Tom Ferguson
Foundation for Global Community
Atlanta, GA

Connie Lemley, Organizer
Frankfort Climate Action Network
Frankfort, KY

John Martin, CEO
fuel4ward
Santa Barbara, CA

Patrick O'Leary
Futura Solar, LLC
Jacksonville, FL

Peter Meisen
Global Energy Network Institute
San Diego, CA

Molly Johnson, Area Coordinator
Grandmothers for Peace/San Luis Obispo County Chapter
San Miguel, CA

Christopher LaForge
Great Northern Solar
Port Wing, WI

Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director
Green America
Washington, DC

Keren Schlomy, President
Green Decade/Cambridge
Cambridge, MA

Chris Menges, Climate & Clean Energy Coordinator
High Country Citizens' Alliance
Crested Butte, CO

Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Executive Director
HOME: Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth
Tecopa, CA

Suzanne Hunt, President
Hunt Green LLC
Washington DC

Nancy Sylvester, Chair
IHM Responsible Investment Committee
The IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan
Monroe, MI

Leslie Perrigo
Independent Environmental Conservation & Activism Network
Muncie, IN

Miriam Pemberton
Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, DC

Alan Ewell
Integrated Architecture
Honolulu, HI

Andy McDonald
Kentucky Solar Energy Society
Kentucky Solar Partnership
Frankfort, KY

Peter Lowenthal
MD-DC-VA Solar Energy Industries Association
Maryland, DC, Virginia

Chris Kolb
Michigan Environmental Council
Lansing, MI

Barbara Jennings, CSJ; Coordinator
Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment
St. Louis, MO

Tehri Parker, Ph.D.; Executive Director
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Custer, WI

Aim Me Smiley
Mighty Kindness
Louisville, KY

Rev. Séamus P. Finn, OMI; Director
Christina Cobourn Herman
Justice Peace/Integrity of Creation Office
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Washington, DC

Jeffrey J. Burke, Executive Director
National Pollution Prevention Roundtable
Washington, DC

Dave Ewoldt
Natural Systems Solutions
Tucson, AZ

Judy Treichel, Executive Director
Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force
Las Vegas, NV

David Radcliff
New Community Project
Elgin, IL

John Cerveny
New Energy Resources
Schenectady, NY

Carolyn Treadway
No New Nukes
Normal, IL

George Crocker, Executive Director
North American Water Office
Lake Elmo, MN

Larry Bell
North East Arizona Energy Services Company
Concho, AZ

Northern Futures Foundation
Port Wing, WI

Norman T. Baker, PhD
Northstar Nurseries, Inc.
Sequim, WA

Alice Slater
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, NY
New York, NY

David A. Kraft, Director
Nuclear Energy Information Service
Chicago, IL

Michael Mariotte, Executive Director
Nuclear Information & Resource Service
Takoma Park, MD

Mary Olson
Nuclear Information & Resource Service, Southeast
Asheville, NC

Glenn Carroll, Coordinator
Nuclear Watch South
Atlanta, GA

Chris Daum
Oasis Montana Inc.
(Renewable Energy Supply & Design)
Stevensville, MT

Phil Tymon, Administrative Director
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Occidental, CA

Chuck Nelson
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Glen Daniel, WV

Judi Friedman, Chair
People's Action for Clean Energy, Inc.
Canton, CT

Conrad Miller M.D.; Founder
Physicians for Life
Watermill, NY

Harry Wang, MD; President
Physicians for Social Responsibility/Sacramento
Sacramento, CA

Robert Schultz, WA State Leader
Pickens Plan
Spokane, WA

Mary Lampert, Director
Pilgrim Watch
Duxbury, MA

Jane Hager
Potomac Region Solar Energy Association
Pasadena, MD

Bruce A. Drew, Steering Committee
Prairie Island Coalition
Minneapolis, MN

Jessica Barry
Prism Solar Technologies, Inc.
Highland, NY

Kevin Zeese, Executive Director
ProsperityAgenda.US
Baltimore, MD

Tyson Slocum, Director
Public Citizen's Energy Program
Washington, DC

Luke Lundemo, CEO
Rainbow Natural Grocery
Jackson, MS

Michael Welch
Redwood Alliance
Arcata, CA

Bill Holmberg
Renew the Earth
Vienna, VA

Gordian Raacke, Executive Director
Renewable Energy Long Island
East Hampton, NY

Margaret Weber
Rosedale Recycles
Detroit, MI

Kathleen Burns, Ph.D.
Sciencecorps
Lexington, MA

James Kennon, President
Sevier Citizens for Clean Air & Water, Inc.
Richfield, UT

Steven Keyser
SnowberryRidge, Zero Emission Development
Salt Lake City, UT

Jody Solell
Solar Electrics
Fairfax, VA

SolaRichard Thompson
Solar Guru
Tacoma, WA

Chris Stimpson, Executive Campaigner
Solar Nation
Washington, DC

Dr. Robert T. Do
Dennis F. Miller, Vice President & Science Advisor
Solena Group, Inc.
Washington, DC

Orlo Stitt, President
Stitt Energy Systems, Inc.
Rogers, AR

Heidi Speight
Strategic Sustainability Associates
Madison, WI

Ken Bossong, Executive Director
SUN DAY Campaign
Takoma Park, MD

Michael S. Almon, Secretary
Sustainability Action Network
Lawrence, KS

John F Neville, President
Sustainable Arizona
Sedona, AZ

Andrea Faste
Sustainable Ballard
Seattle, WA

Rona Fried, Ph.D.; President
SustainableBusiness.com
Huntington, NY

Bob Walker
Sustainable Energy Resource Group
Thetford Center, VT

Bernhard O. Voelkelt
Sustainable Energy Solutions
Lake Arrowhead, CA

Carolyn Starrett
Sustainable Winchester
Winchester, MA

Scott Sklar, President
The Stella Group, Ltd.
Arlington, VA

Angela Taylor, President
Taylor Interactive, Inc.
Baltimore, MD

Linda Seeley, President
Terra Foundation
San Luis Obispo, CA

Diane C. Beeny
Union County (NJ) Peace Council
Westfield, NJ

Brian Moench, MD; President
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment
Salt Lake City, UT

John Blair, President
Valley Watch, Inc.
Evansville, IN

Blair Hamilton
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Burlington, VT

Eric Alexander
Vision Long Island
Northport, NY

Annie Carmichael, Federal Policy Director
Vote Solar
San Francisco, CA

Blair Anundson, Consumer & Democracy Advocate
Washington Public Interest Research Group
Seattle, WA

Michael J. Dietrick MD
Waterplanet Alliance
Mill Valley, CA

Santana Tamarak
Western Nebraska Recourses Council
Scottsbluff, NE

Lewis E. Patrie, MD; Chair
Western N.C. Physicians for Social Responsibility
Asheville, NC

Buffalo Bruce
Western Nebraska Resources Council
Chadron, NE

John Horning, Executive Director
WildEarth Guardians
Santa Fe, NM

Chris Herman, Owner
Winter Sun Design
Edmonds, WA

Deborah Reilly
WISEnergy Vashon
Vashon, WA

Paul Connett, PhD; Executive Director
www.AmericanHealthStudies.org
Canton, NY

Al Sobel, President
Virginia Solar Council
Alexandria, VA


INDIVIDUAL SIGNERS

Wanda S. Ballentine
Eagan, MN

Nancy Bernstein
Vermontville, NY

Frieda Berryhill
Wilmington, DE

Joy Blackwood
Landover, MD

Eric Bourgeois, Ph.D.
Cambridge, MA

John D. Calandrelli
Enfield, CT

Geraldine Carter
Climate Ride *
Missoula, MT

Marcella Chiarello
Shelburne, VT

Mary C. Coelho
Cambridge, MA

Marty Dickinson
Washington, DC

Marianne DiMascio
Hanson, MA

Michel Dyer
Wendell, NC

Thomas Gaffney
Sustainable Weymouth *
South Weymouth, MA

Sabodh K. Garg, Ph.D.
Del Mar, CA

Sister Mary Frances Gebhard
St. Bede Monastery *
Eau Claire, WI

Richard Giordano
Boston, MA

Hans Grellmann
Palos Verdes Estates, CA

Marcia Geyer
Sustainable South Shore *
Weymouth, MA

Nancy Givens, Chairperson
BGGreen Partnership for a Sustainable Community *
Bowling Green, KY

Sister Paula Gonzalez, PHD
Cincinnati, OH

Art & Natalie Hanson
Lansing, MI

Gina B. Hardin
Denver, CO

Harry Hochheiser
Baltimore, MD

Marie D. Hoff, PhD
Bismarck, ND

Cynthia E. Hoisington
Barrington, NH

Robert R. Holt, PhD; Vice Chair
Truro Energy Committee *
Truro, MA

Paul Huddy
Solar Institute *
Tucson, AZ

Thayer Jordan
Chapel Hill, NC

Mrs. Leah R. Karpen, Member
Physicians for Social Responsibility *
League of Women Voters *
Asheville, NC

Malcolm M. Kenton
Greensboro, NC

Leslie H. Lowe, Energy & Environment Program Director
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility *
New York, NY

Philip D. Lusk
Port Angeles, WA

Rory McIlmoil
Morgantown, WV

Elizabeth C. Moore
Lakewood, CO

Kathleen Morris RN
Columbus, OH

Albert Nunez, CEM
Takoma Park, MD

David O'Leary
Takoma Park, MD

Denis Oudard, President
Bay Pointe Solar *
Louisville, KY

Micah Parkin
Boulder, CO

Dennis Paull, Renewable Energy Advocate
Half Moon Bay, CA

Upgeya Pew
Costa Mesa, CA

Judi Poulson
Fairmont, MN

Mario G. Rivera
Winter Haven, FL

Ellen Rubinstein
The Cadmus Group *
Portland, OR

Alice Geary Sgroi
St. Louis, MO

Janette D. Sherman, M. D.
Alexandria, VA

Lenny Siegel, Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight *
Mountain View, CA

Beverly Smith
Sierra Club *
Cottonwood, AZ

Lewis L. Smith
Carolina, PR

Rebecca Sobel
Santa Fe, NM

Benjamin K. Sovacool, PhD
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University *
Blacksburg, VA

Darla Reynolds Sparks
Yukon, OK

Richa
Grand Rapids, MI

Diane Stanton
Lake Junaluska, NC

Stephen Steinhoff
Madison, WI

Dot Sulock
University of North Carolina at Asheville *
Asheville, NC

Lorry Swain
Southern Ohio Neighbors Group *
South Shore, KY

Jay Sweeney
Green Party of Pennsylvania *
Falls, PA

Ruah Swennerfelt
Quaker Earthcare Witness *
Burlington, VT

Dr. Stephen J. Thompson
Washington, DC

Burt Tribble
EnRRG, LLC *
Nortonville, KS

Roy C. Treadway, Member
Quaker Earthcare Witness *
Normal, IL

Guy M. Zaczek
Niagara County Community College *
Lockport, NY

*Affiliation listed for identification purposes only