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The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Richard D. Lamm, former governor of Colorado, has written:
"The essential human dilemma is that all our experience is in the
past and yet all our decisions relate to the future."
In electing you our President, We the American People have made a
historic break with the past as we face a dramatically different
future. In similar fashion, we must create a New Energy Economy to
meet the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century – challenges
dramatically different from those we faced in the 20th century. For
reasons of national and homeland security, the economy, the
environment and our planet’s climate, it has become clear that we
must take bold steps to revolutionize our energy sector. Yet while
the need is urgent and compels swift action, the 21st century
American electricity and transportation sectors must be transformed
in sustained and orderly fashion.
We in the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) are privileged to
count ourselves among the “boots on the ground” in Colorado’s New
Energy Economy. We are building experience in orderly approaches to
sustained transformation, and we offer our expertise and experience
as you build a New Energy Economy nation-wide.
Following are key measures we feel should receive priority funding
and attention from your Administration in the coming months and
years. Some will seem expensive and all are bold, but continued
investment in yesteryear’s technologies would be far more costly in
any final reckoning, even if the damage to our environment is left
out of the calculation. Fuel and commodity costs will continue to
escalate, while the costs of renewable energy and energy efficiency
are declining. Moreover, the following measures will create many
thousands of jobs.
1. Transform the concept and model of electric utilities. The
generating portfolio of the 21st century utility should include
distributed renewable energy resources, utility-scale renewable
energy where feasible, and – importantly – aggressive, dramatically
increased energy efficiency, both in the electricity system itself
and at the end use.
2. This will require significant investment in utility transmission
and distribution systems. Organize a nationally coordinated
long-distance DC transmission backbone to carry solar- and
wind-generated electricity from resource-rich regions to hungry load
centers.
3. Coordinate efforts and align incentives to create smart grids.
This, along with the strong transmission backbone, will make the
grid able to accept far more of the fluctuations arising from many
renewable resources.
4. Invest in the #1 resource in the backyards of America’s cities
and towns: energy efficiency. Capitalize on the “power” of America’s
buildings, which account for 72 percent of our national electricity
consumption and 55 percent of our natural gas use. Energy efficiency
in retrofits, plus net-zero-energy design and construction in new
buildings, should be the linchpins of the distributed 21st century
utility infrastructure. Meeting this goal would create many
thousands of jobs all across the land.
5. Investment in upgrades to the transportation infrastructure
should be forward-looking and well planned. Alternative modes of
transit and incentives to reduce vehicle miles traveled should be
given priority to save fuel and reduce pollution.
6. Invest in the R&D required to produce the next generation of
home-grown fuels. These include, but are not limited to, algae
(which also could be part of a massive CO2 sequestration effort) and
biochar.
7. Above all, realign incentives to encourage desired behaviors and
facilitate market entry for 21st century technologies in America’s
energy marketplace. Recognizing that today’s financial and
regulatory incentives were created to meet different needs, instruct
Federal government agencies – and help states and communities – to
realign systems, incentives and regulations to meet 21st century
challenges. We have fallen behind the rest of the world (Europe, in
particular) in taking advantage of the new technologies that should
be the backbone of our 21st century energy systems, in part because
America’s energy markets are riddled with artificial barriers to
market entry. These old and misaligned incentives include financial
benefits and favorable tax treatments for mature, established 20th
century industries that should no longer need them, and they create
barriers to market entry for needed new technologies.
The Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) is a chapter of the
American Solar Energy Society. Our roughly 800 Colorado members
include current and former scientists and engineers, some of them
employed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; business
professionals and owners of energy efficiency and renewable energy
businesses; current and former public servants from local, state and
federal government agencies; students; consumers and ratepayers; and
concerned citizens from many backgrounds. While we represent a
diverse cross-section of America, we share core goals. Among them
are national and homeland security, a robust economy in which we all
participate and benefit, affordable and reliable energy and water
supplies, clean air and water, and a healthy planet to nurture the
coming generations. This led us to craft and pass the first
citizen-initiated Renewable Portfolio Standard in the country.
Please accept our heartfelt best wishes for success as you tackle
the difficult issues that confront us as a nation. And please call
on CRES to help construct America’s New Energy Economy. We are eager
to volunteer our knowledge and efforts in this critically important
endeavor.
With warm best wishes,
Steve Sargent
President
Cc: Dr. Steven Chu
Secretary-Designate
U.S. Department of Energy
This letter has been endorsed by the
CRES Board and is
official CRES Policy.
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