New Year, New Energy Goals - Obama’s national energy plans and local effects

New Year, New Energy Goals - Obama’s national energy plans and local effects

Proponents say that if implemented, Barack Obama’s New Energy for America plan has the potential to help improve the national economy, create millions of jobs, dramatically decrease pollution and allow us to pass on a healthy environment to future generations.

When it comes to electricity, there are three aspects of President-elect Obama’s energy strategy that would require a positive and dramatic shift. The new presidential administration plans on proposing that 25% of our electricity come from renewable sources by 2025 and that the United States becomes a world leader in fighting climate change, initially by re-engaging with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). Perhaps most significantly, the new administration plans on implementing an economy wide cap and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.

So what is a cap and trade program and how does it work? Sightline, a Seattle-based think tank defines it as a system that “enforces an economy-wide limit on greenhouse gas emissions; sets realistic goals for reducing emissions over time; and harnesses the creativity and dynamism of the market to achieve these goals." In simpler terms, the cap limits greenhouse gas emissions and the trade achieves environmental results at the lowest cost. This type of program is credited with dramatically reducing acid rain in the 1990s. The bottom line for coal-fired power plants is that their emissions will be “taxed” like never before and this formerly “cheap” energy source will become much more expensive.

How might you feel the effects here in the Gunnison Valley? Cap and trade programs may significantly affect the ability of Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) and Tri-State Generation and Transmission, GCEA’s electricity provider, to fulfill the part of their missions of providing their members (you) with affordable electricity. If Tri-State chooses to continue the pursuit of new coal-fired power plants using 20^th century technology instead of investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy technology and other zero- or low-emitting power plants, electricity users in much of Gunnison County over the long-run likely would be saddled with the increased rates for power that climate legislation would bring. Essentially, it is a near certainty that this new legislation will make old-style coal-based electricity more and more expensive as it assigns a cost to greenhouse gas emissions. In order to safeguard local consumers from increasingly expensive electricity bills, our electricity providers must look to the future and develop strategies to provide us with clean, efficient power and quickly implement local energy efficiency measures.

If you agree that moving away from dated technology like old-style pulverized coal fired power plants is essential to protecting both your long term financial well-being and the environment, you can help this effort locally in several ways. Write a letter to GCEA and Tri-State asking for more electricity produced from renewable sources and increased energy efficiency measures. A letter template is available on our website. You can also participate by attending monthly Alliance for Clean Electricity (ACE) meetings which alternate between Gunnison and Crested Butte. The time, date and location of the meetings are posted here. For more details and a list of how to take action or get involved, visit the Climate and Clean Energy page at www.hccaonline.org. Learn more about cap and trade by viewing the video about how this program defeated acid rain below -

(Video by Environmental Defense Fund)

Chris Menges,

Alliance for Clean Electricity and

Climate and Clean Energy Coordinator at

High Country Citizens' Alliance