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Executive Summary
As the new home of Illinois PIRG's environmental work,
Environment Illinois can be contacted with any questions regarding this report.
Our current reliance on
dirty, unreliable sources of energy such as coal, oil and nuclear has left this
country with a legacy of asthma attacks, oil spills, radioactive waste and global
warming. America deserves a safe, clean, affordable energy future. We can create
jobs and secure this energy future by using America’s technological know-how
to increase production from renewable sources, such as solar and wind. Consumers
could save billions in energy costs each year if companies used available technology
to make our cars, homes and appliances more energy efficient.
This report examines 21
states and their potential for electricity generation from renewable resources
using state-of-the-art technology. We highlight success stories from Washington
State to Maine that point to the enormous untapped potential for clean power
generation from renewable resources.
Only 2% of our energy comes
from clean, renewable sources. However, the potential power output of wind,
solar, and geothermal resources in the United States is many times greater than
our current total electricity consumption. The wind that blows in just four
states––North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska––is enough to meet the
electricity needs of the entire country. The sun’s energy that hits the surface
of the Earth every minute is greater than the total amount of energy that the
world's human population consumes in a year. We still only harness a fraction
of that power, but the potential to generate energy from renewable sources is
great.
Clean renewable energy has
become increasingly more cost competitive. The American Wind Energy Association
estimates that the cost of electricity generated from utility-scale wind systems
has dropped by more than 80% over the last 20 years. According to the Solar
Energy Industries Association, the cost of solar energy has dropped by a similar
factor.
Because of the dramatically
improved economics of renewable energy, state governments and municipalities
across the country are implementing small-scale renewable energy programs. Often
the testing ground for new, innovative policies, states have proven that we
can increase production of renewable energy while creating jobs and saving consumers
money. States will remain critical in increasing renewable energy generation,
but to ensure that all Americans can enjoy the benefits of clean, renewable
energy, we also need national standards.
In order to encourage increased
energy production from renewable sources, we should implement policies at the
state and national level that include the following:
• A clean energy standard,
known as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), to increase the amount of electricity
generated from renewable sources of energy to 20% of power generation nationally
by 2020.
• A public benefits fund
to provide funds for energy efficiency programs, investments in promising renewable
energy technologies, and low-income assistance programs. A national fund would
provide matching funds to the states to help enhance state programs.
• National and state net
metering standards that allow consumers who generate their own electricity from
renewable technologies (e.g. a small wind turbine, a rooftop solar panel) to
reduce their electric bill by getting credit for any power generated.
• A five-year extension
of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) to encourage new energy generation from renewable
sources, including wind, solar, geothermal energy, and clean biomass—specifically
excluding municipal solid waste incinerators. The Production Tax Credit is critical
in making renewable energy price-competitive with conventional energy sources,
such as oil, coal and nuclear, which are heavily subsidized by the federal government.
The extension of the credit will enable the renewable energy industry to develop
and improve its technology, drive costs down even further and provide Americans
with significantly more clean, emissions-free electricity generation.
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