Platform
Will Reduce Oil Dependency, Increase Renewable Energy Use, Increase Energy
Conservation and Boost Investments in Clean Technology
Providence, RI—Environment
Rhode Island has launched a new campaign calling on all Rhode
Island candidates for Congress to support their New Energy Future
Platform to reduce America’s
dependence on oil and increase the nation’s use of clean renewable energy.
“There is no question that America has the know-how to reduce
our dependence on oil and create a clean and secure energy future,” said Laura
Quayle, Clean Air and Energy Associate at Environment Rhode Island. “Today we are calling on every candidate for
Congress in Rhode Island
to endorse the New Energy Future platform,” Quayle continued.
The New Energy Future platform consists of four policy
points:
• Reduce
U.S.
dependence on oil by saving one-third of the oil we use today by 2025
• Harness
clean, renewable, homegrown energy sources for at least one quarter of all
energy needs by 2025;
• Save
energy with high performance homes, buildings and appliances so that by 2025 we
use 10 percent less energy than we do today; and
• Invest
in a New Energy Future by tripling research and development funding for the
energy-saving and renewable technologies we need to achieve these goals.
Environment Rhode Island
also released a report today called “A New Energy Future,” showing the benefits
of these policies to America’s
environment, economy, and national security.
Environment Rhode Island found that
achieving these goals by 2025 would enable the United States to:
• Save 10.8
million barrels of oil per day, equal to four-fifths of the amount of oil
we currently import from all other nations in the world.
• Save 9.1
trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year, nearly twice as much as
currently used in all of America’s
homes.
• Save 900
million tons of coal per year, or about 80 percent of all the coal consumed in the United States in 2005.
• Save 1.7
billion megawatt-hours of electricity per year, 30 percent more than was
used in all the households in America
in 2005.
A growing number of state and national groups support the
need for a New Energy Future, and have united behind the Environment Rhode
Island platform to achieve it, including the American Lung Association of Rhode
Island, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Consumer
Federation of America, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Republicans for
Environmental Protection, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and United Steel
Workers.
“Energy policies that focus on reducing overall energy
usage, and then on meeting demand with clean renewable alternatives should be
at the heart of all energy policies – federal, state, institutional and
personal,” said Bradley Hyson, Executive Director at the Apeiron Institute for
Environmental Living. “Such a policy creates unlimited potential for economic
growth, new jobs, and, most importantly, for America to define itself as a
global leader in energy policy,” continued Hyson.
“Our federal government needs to catch up with states like Rhode Island, where we have committed to generating 16%
of our energy from renewable sources by 2020,” said Sheila Dormody, Rhode Island director of
Clean Water Action. “Rhode Island
can lead the way, but that’s no substitute for national action.”
Over the next three weeks, Environment Rhode Island will continue
working with State PIRGs and State Environment groups in every state across the
country to build support for the platform.
