Urge your senators to reject a national RES

Source: National Wind Watch | Action alerts, Economics, Emissions, Energy, Grid, Law, U.S.

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Update: Yesterday afternoon (Sept. 21), Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Brownback (R-KS), Dorgan (D-ND), Collins (R-ME), Udall (D-NM), and Udall (D-CO) introduced a 15% by 2021 renewable electricity standard (RES) bill, The Renewable Electricity Promotion Act. For this RES only bill to move forward, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will need to allow this bill to come up for a floor vote, and at least 60 Senators will need to vote in favor of it.

The primary purpose of the RES is to drive industrial wind development, which – rather than move us toward cleaner energy – serves only to destabilize the grid and impair its efficiency.

Contact your senators (click here) and tell them to reject the RES as harmful and counterproductive to sound energy policy. FAXes get the most attention.

Although the most important thing is to simply express your urging of a NO vote, here are some points you can make – use only a couple to keep your message short and focused.

The national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) …

Does not create jobs on net. If new renewable energy plants replace older facilities, the effect is more likely a net job loss. And if they don’t replace older facilities, why build them?

Harms job creation in the economy as a whole by making electricity more expensive and less reliable.

Does not create energy security. By promoting intermittent sources such as wind and solar and in particular highly variable wind, it creates destabilization of energy supply as well as a needless substantial increase in costs (without a corresponding benefit).

Creates a market of tradable renewable energy credits, a scheme invented by Enron to sell electricity twice and already rife with abuse and fraud, as recently investigated by the Christian Science Monitor. Fool me one (Enron), shame on them; fool me twice (GE, FPL, Exelon), shame on me!

Perpetuates tax-avoidance subsidies for big energy companies and investors while forcing utilities to buy specific types of heavily subsidized energy whether they are a good choice or not.

Applies a single target for all utilities nationwide, with no regard to practicality or existing record, thus promoting facility siting far from loads and unnecessary large power lines, further inflating costs and harming the economy.

Does not reduce emissions. If the goal is reduced emissions, than provide incentives to reduce emissions. No state has shown that wind power has avoided any emissions.

Defeats the goals of energy policy by promoting industrial-scale wind (the major benificiary of a non-hydro RES), which has already proved to be ineffective (for both reducing emissions and providing energy) as well as harmful to the environment, wildlife, and people.