U.S. National Clean Energy Summit Proposes Guidelines

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--Forwarded Message Attachment--Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:04:20 -0400From: America.govCompList@...Subject: National Clean Energy Summit Proposes GuidelinesNational Clean Energy Summit Proposes Guidelines (Federal, state governments are offered practical idea on energy efficiency) (798) Leaders from politics and business met at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, August 18-19, for the first National Clean Energy Summit. The bipartisan meeting, hosted by the university, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the American the Center for American Progress Action Fund, formulated a list of "findings and recommendations" to guide governments toward energy independence. (See "Clean Energy Conference Offers New Directions." ( http://www.america.gov/st/env-english/2008/August/20080822132527mlenuhret0.8086817.html )) The following actions and policies were offered for consideration by federal and state governments to reduce dependence on foreign oil, increase use of renewable energy resources and assist partner nations achieve the same goals. (begin text) National Clean Energy Summit 2008University of Nevada, Las VegasAugust 19, 2008 Findings and Recommendations For the Federal government: . Provide long-term tax incentives for renewable energy production and energy efficiency, including clean renewable energy bonds. Modify other tax policies to reward clean energy investments. . Set a national renewable electricity standard for utilities to produce a significant portion of their electricity from wind, solar and geothermal energy. This should be at least 20% by 2020. It would reduce consumers' energy costs, energy price volatility and greenhouse gas emissions. . Establish, enforce and update building code standards for energy efficiency in new and retrofitted buildings to save consumers' money and reduce fossil fuel use. Provide incentives for efficiency related renovations Reduce building energy use by 50% by 2030. . Put a price on carbon pollution, through a cap-and-trade program or other means. . Modernize and expand the nation's electrical grid to make it smart and more secure, and capable of transferring or storing clean renewable energy in combination with electric vehicles, while providing greater access to such resources in an environmentally responsible way. . Help fund the transition of states, like Nevada, or small countries around the world to be completely energy independent and carbon neutral to serve as an example of how these goals can be achieved. . Act swiftly to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks, and increase funding for private-public partnerships to build a transportation sector that uses far less or no oil. . Buy, and give significant incentives to consumers and small businesses to buy, clean alternative fuel and plug-in hybrid vehicles. This should include natural gas fleet vehicles. . Initiate electrification of our entire transportation sector so it uses only clean domestic energy soon. . Fully fund and expand a green jobs/clean energy corps program to weatherize millions of homes, train workers for new energy technology application, build a smart grid, etc. . Provide incentives to states to decouple utility profits from electricity sales to encourage significant new investments in energy efficiency, and ensure net metering and time of use pricing/real time information is available. . Create a Federal clean energy fund to invest in research, development and deployment of efficiency and renewable technologies. . Encourage or direct utilities to organize the retrofitting of existing buildings. . Expedite identification and reservation of Federal public lands that have high potential for the environmentally responsible production of renewable electricity, and improving permitting processes for clean energy production on such lands. . Vastly increase the budget for clean energy research, development and deployment, including greater emphasis on commercializing research funded by taxpayers. . Greatly increase investments in public transit to make it more affordable and accessible. . Fully fund and expand the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which gives grants for weatherization and energy expenses to qualifying citizens. . Reduce Federal government energy consumption by half within the next fifteen years, using procurement power to buy green products, buildings and services . Fund research into carbon capture and storage technology that can dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal fired power plants . Speed the transition from corn based ethanol to sustainable biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol made from wood chips, agriculture waste, and switchgrass. This could include a joint US-Brazilian investment in sugar cane ethanol in the Caribbean, which would create jobs in this developing region. . Convert solid waste landfills so that they produce waste heat, biofuels or fertilizer from methane emissions or organic materials. . Establish programs to promote exports of domestically-made clean energy technology products. Assist China and India and other developing nations with their adoption of clean energy practices and technologies. For the States: . Require all new government buildings to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, a certification of energy efficiency offered by the U.S. Green Building Council. . Convert state vehicle fleets to alternative fuels . Create incentives for renewable energy by lowering property taxes for these facilities, and exempting them from sales tax. . Require that homeowner associations allow solar panels and other renewable technologies. . Eliminate barriers and regulations that discourage energy efficiency. Increase transparency of commercial building energy use for consumers. (end text) (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SOURCE: AMERICA-GOV Digest - 21 Aug 2008 to 22 Aug 2008 (#2008-116)