Clean Energy for Prosperity and Security

by Mel on Nov 6, 2009 at 11:36 AM

Guest post by Scott Holcomb, former Captain, U.S. Army (1998-2004), Veteran of Operations Joint Forge (Bosnia), Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, and a volunteer with Operation Free, and Emily Thomas, Energy Associate, Environment Georgia

Military veterans and environmental groups are a few examples of a broad coalition coming together around one vital issue: clean energy. This fall, Congress is considering legislation that will overhaul our energy mix, put Americans back to work and set us on a sustainable clean energy path for the future.

This summer, the US House voted to bring America into a new energy era by passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Last week, the Environment and Public Works Committee held hearings on the Kerry-Boxer bill, the Senate's version of ACES. As this bill moves through the Senate, we draw nearer to our vision of a clean energy future.

Right now, America is far too reliant on the dirty, polluting fossil fuels of the past that threaten our national security. Moving to energy that is clean, domestic, cheap, and safe will take some work but the payoff will be enormous.

The alternative to clean energy is to stay dependent on dirty fossil fuels. According to a recent report by Environment Georgia, between 2010 and 2030, Georgia will spend 3.9 times the total 2007 earnings of all Georgian workers on oil, coal, and natural gas. By 2030, we will spend as much as $39.6 billion on oil alone.

Those funds are a direct transfer of wealth from our consumers to oil companies and often-unstable, unfriendly foreign governments. Our dependence on oil ties our hands in foreign policy, funds terrorists, and entangles us with hostile regimes. America has less than 3 percent of the world's oil reserves yet uses 25 percent of the world's oil supply. In 2007, America spent more than $360 billion importing fossil fuels, with the vast majority of that money spent on crude oil.

Clean energy has the potential to create millions of jobs here at home. Investing in efficient and clean energy creates jobs in manufacturing, sales, installation, and servicing of wind turbines, solar panels, and super efficient buildings.

Economists from the Center for American Progress recently calculated that investing in clean energy over the next decade could create 58,816 local, good paying jobs here in Georgia. Since Georgia has lost more than 250,000 during the recession of the last year, this legislation should be a no-brainer.

When the choice is between paying to uphold a dirty polluting status quo and investing in a new direction for America, clean energy is the clear winner.

President Obama wants to lead America to a clean energy future and has asked Congress to pass a bill that reduces our dependence on oil and shifts toward clean, renewable sources of energy like wind and solar.

But President Obama and clean energy leaders in Congress cannot bring about this change alone. Environment Georgia estimates that Big Oil, Dirty Coal, and other polluters have hired 2,000 lobbyists to stop President Obama's energy plan - that's nearly four lobbyists for every member of Congress. To push clean energy plans past fossil fuel lobbyists, our Senators need to hear from us.

Now is the time for bold and meaningful action on clean energy and global warming. The Senate has an opportunity to make us safer, kick start the economy and save the planet, all at the same time. Coal and oil lobbyists are trying to kill the bill. Tell our Senators that the bill needs to pass.