Repower America

On Sept. 30, Sens. John Kerry and Barbara Boxer introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The bill uses a framework similar to the House-passed energy bill, and does have some improvements.

The Kerry-Boxer bill requires covered sources to cut global warming pollution 20 percent by 2020, compared with 17 percent by 2020 in the House version. Additionally, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act does not repeal core parts of the Clean Air Act that require existing power plants, oil refineries, and other large smokestack industries to eventually meet modern pollution standards for carbon.

Sen. Boxer, the Environment and Public Works Committee Chair, has said that the bill will be out of committee and hopefully on the Senate floor by the time world leaders meet in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new climate treaty.

(On June 26, the U.S. House of Representatives took a historic step toward a new clean energy economy and a healthy future in passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act by a vote of 219 to 212. The bill, if approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, would set the first-ever cap on global warming pollution. In Texas, U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett, Charles Gonzalez, Al Green, Gene Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Henry Cuellar, Silvestre Reyes and Ruben Hinojosa voted for the bill.)

Send an e-mail to Congress, urging them to commit to repowering America with 100 percent clean, renewable electricity, such as wind and solar, and to cut our dependence on oil in half.

Click here to take action.

There's no question that America has the technological know-how to meet 100 percent of our energy needs with clean, renewable energy. Wind turbines and solar panels can supply limitless clean, renewable energy to power and heat millions of homes and businesses. We can make high-performance energy-efficient homes that generate their own clean power, and in so doing dramatically reduce our energy consumption.

With the war raging in the Middle East, the economic downturn, and global warming threatening our future, we cannot wait. Repowering America with 100 percent clean, renewable energy is the most effective way to improve our energy security, jump-start our economy, and avoid the worst effects of global warming. We need to start now. That's why we're calling on Congress and the incoming administration to make energy efficiency, expanding our public transportation, deploying renewable energy technology, and reducing the pollution that causes global warming central elements in America's economic policies.

We're working to make sure that Congress approves legislation that:

• Requires that America generate 100 percent of its electricity from clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar power;
• Cuts our dependence on oil in half; and
• Reduces heat-trapping global warming pollution at least 80 percent by 2050.