Archive for June, 2010

Today Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sent Senator Harry Reid a letter that basically says we are spending too much of our tax dollars on the same, dirty old energy sources and we need to fund clean, renewable generation like wind energy and solar energy. Below is Senator Sanders’ letter.

This comes as General Electric released the results of a consumer survey (by  StrategyOne) that exhibits the constituency (yes we the people) of our Congress supports a new energy strategy and economy.

1. 95% of consumers want to save money on energy
2. 90% of consumers want increased control over their energy costs
3. 88% of consumers want to make a difference for their children and grandchildren
4. 86% of consumers want power outages reduced
5. 85% of consumers have concerns on the effects of energy generation on the environment.

Duh, look at the gulf after 60+ days of oil contamination.

Members of Congress, tell us where is the disconnect? Are you listening to what the people want? Or are you listening to the lobbyists lining your pockets?

Senator Sanders Sets Out Energy Policy Principles

Calls Current Proposals ‘By No Means Strong Enough’

WASHINGTON, June 22 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today laid out core principles that he said should be part of any comprehensive energy legislation, and he bluntly concluded in a letter to the Senate leader that it “makes no sense at all” to promote coal and nuclear power over cleaner, safer energy sources.

“I am concerned that the current legislative proposals we are examining are by no means strong enough in terms of energy efficiency and sustainable energy,” Sanders wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Any legislation responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, Sanders said, should move the United States away from fossil fuels and toward energy independence. The chairman of the Senate green jobs subcommittee also said a strong U.S. energy policy would cut greenhouse gas emissions while creating millions of good-paying jobs.

Sanders singled out for criticism a weakness in the Kerry-Lieberman proposal to provide more than $100 billion for nuclear and coal, far more than their plan would invest in energy efficiency and sustainable energy sources. “If we are serious about combating global warming, moving to energy independence and creating millions of jobs in the future, we must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels” Sanders said. “At the very least, any serious energy bill must include funding for energy efficiency and sustainable energy that is on a par with the amounts provided for nuclear and coal.”

Sanders developed and sent to Reid a proposal that would ensure that the energy bill has a significant sustainable energy investment of tens of billions of dollars over a 10-year period. The three principles that Sanders told Reid must be a part of any legislation include:

• A strong energy efficiency and renewable energy provision. Sanders would invest at least 10 percent of the resources from global warming legislation in efficient and renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. An investment of $8 billion to $13 billion a year, he said, would create as many as 2 million new jobs.

• A ban on new offshore drilling. Congress should reinstate a moratorium in effect for decades and ban drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as Florida’s gulf coast. In addition, Congress should demand dramatically improved fuel-economy standards. While better gas mileage could save the equivalent of $1.43 a gallon by 2030, wide-open drilling would produce only enough additional petroleum to bring prices down by 3-cents a gallon.

• A strong renewable electricity standard. Renewable energy standards, also known as renewable portfolio standards, require that a certain percentage of total energy needs be generated from renewable sources. The United States should set a national standard requiring 25 percent renewable power by 2025. “This provision alone could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs while helping to meet our greenhouse gas reduction goals,” Sanders said.

Media Contact: Michael Briggs or Will Wiquist (202) 224-5141

Tonight at 7:00 (central), 8:00(eastern) President Obama will address the Gulf Coast oil spill and the tragic effects on the people, the environment and the economy.

We hope to hear an open, honest assessment of what is being done to stop the flow and the specific plans and resources that will be allocated to cleaning up this mess.

Once again we see big companies driven by greed employing unnecessary and irresponsible strategies that produce devastating effects. This is all too similar to the financial companies that brought our economy to it’s knees in September, 2008 where we had to bail them out to avoid a financial meltdown.

Let’s all watch and listen tonight.

We hope President Obama has the political will to use this Gulf Coast tragedy as the foundation for a comprehensive energy strategy that will offer substantial incentives for energy conservation and a full court press to develop and implement a sustainable energy strategy based upon clean, renewable energy production from the infinite resources of the sun and the wind.

This AP photo pretty much says it all!

From 2002 to 2008 our Congress has given $70 Billion in tax breaks to big oil companies.  This may give us some insight as to the enormous profits these companies report each quarter.  For example our favorite oil company, BP made $6 Billion in the first quarter of 2010 alone.

During that same time frame, our Congress has given $12 Billion to support and incentivize Renewable Energy like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal. We agree with Senator Bernie Sanders’ amendment – let’s support the development and implementation of clean, renewable energy and stop supporting companies that trash our eco-system.

Sanders Amendment Would Repeal Big Oil Tax Breaks

WASHINGTON, June 9 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today proposed repealing more than $35 billion in oil and gas industry tax breaks.

Sanders’ amendment would invest $10 billion of the savings in the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. The remaining $25 billion would reduce the federal deficit.

“What the amendment does is help transform our energy system away from fossil fuels, end unjustified tax breaks, cut the deficit and invest in energy efficiency,” Sanders said.

Calling the tax breaks “absurd,” Sanders noted that Exxon Mobil, the most profitable corporation in the history of the world, last year avoided paying any federal income taxes and pocketed a $46 million refund from the IRS.

“This amendment would begin to make sure that Exxon Mobil, BP and other big oil companies pay at least a minimal amount of their record-breaking profits in taxes to the federal government,” Sanders said.

The oil and gas tax breaks also were targeted for elimination in President Obama’s budget.

During the past decade, Sanders said, the five largest oil companies (ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips) earned more than $750 billion in profits.  During the first quarter of this year, big oil’s profits increased by 85 percent.

The chairman of the Senate Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee, Sanders said that the United States heavily subsidizes oil but has failed to make significant investments in safer, cleaner renewable energy sources. According to the Environmental Law Institute, the U.S. from 2002 to 2008 provided more than $70 billion in fossil fuel subsidies, compared to only $12 billion for wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other renewable energy.

The energy block grant program that would receive $10 billion under Sanders’ amendment was created by a provision that he and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) authored in the 2007 energy bill.

Initial funding for the program came from $3.2 billion in the economic stimulus bill. In Highgate, Vt., for example, the elementary school was awarded more than $81,000 to replace lights with energy-efficient fixtures. The same program is funding windmills in Carmel, Ind., to power a sewer treatment plant.  It’s being used in Salt Lake City to provide loans to businesses to make energy efficiency upgrades.  It’s being used in Columbus, Ohio, to make public buildings more energy efficient

“This amendment may not be easy to pass,” Sanders acknowledged, noting that oil industry campaign contributions since 1990 exceed $238 million. “But it is the right thing to do for deficit reduction,” he concluded. “It is the right thing for the environment, and it is the right thing to do for consumers.”

Contact: Michael Briggs or Will Wiquist (202) 224-5141