The United States’ huge appetite for energy, our reliance on unstable and unfriendly countries for most of our oil, our addiction to dirty fossil fuels, and an irresponsible national energy policy are a deadly combination for the global environment and the Rocky Mountain West.
Our continued reliance on coal, oil and gas fuels global warming. The Bush Administration’s rush to spur domestic natural gas production was harming western agriculture, water, communities, wildlife and public lands.
Fortunately, there is a good solution to our nation’s energy crisis—developing the West’s vast supply of clean and renewable energy. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are the fastest and most reliable way to increase energy supplies.
They also create more jobs than fossil fuel development, lower natural gas and electricity prices, and benefit the environment. Renewable resources are a common sense step away from our dependence on an unstable, unclean fossil fuel supply, and toward a new energy future.
WORC supports:
Biofuels: Clean Renewable Fuel from Farms –The expanded use of biofuels is a cheaper, more realistic and more immediate solution to our energy problems.
Renewable Electricity Standard – State and federal policies should set renewable electricity standards to require utilities to buy or generate a specific percentage of their energy from clean, renewable sources by a specific date.
Farm Bill Renewable Energy Program – The 2002 Farm Bill’s Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program should be fully funded to make grants and loan guarantees to farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses for renewable energy project.
Beyond Business as Usual: Investigating a Future without Coal and Nuclear Power in the U.S.
A new report by Synapse Energy Economics for the Civil Society Institute outlines a "transition scenario" that would step up energy efficiency and use of clean, renewable energy, allowing the country to retire all coal-fired power plants and over a quarter of existing nuclear reactors. A WORC fact sheet summarizes this report.
Coloradans and Montanans support renewable energy, energy efficiency, and fuel-efficient vehicles
If elected officials are going to continue investing in energy through subsidies, tax breaks and other incentives, the focus should shift from coal and nuclear power to promoting wind and solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, and highly fuel-efficient vehicles, according to surveys of Colorado and Montana adults conducted for TheCLEAN.org and the Civil Society Institute. The surveys were released with Western Colorado Congress and Northern Plains Resource Council.
Resources
Frequently Asked Questions About Renewable Energy
Renewable Energy Policy Options
Renewable Energy in the West and Great Plains
Renewable Energy Atlas of the West
Clean Electricity Options for the Pacific Northwest
Repowering the Midwest - The Clean Energy Development Plan for the Heartland
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