A group of twelve Senators today detailed key principles they will work to include in energy and climate legislation expected to be considered in the coming weeks.  In a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senators urged him to include these baseline principles in legislation he may bring to the floor.

 

The letter was signed by
Senators Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), along with Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Al Franken (D-MN).

 

In the letter, the senators wrote the following:

 

“In the wake of the disastrous and ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it is even more essential that the Senate act quickly to reform our nation’s energy policy to end our dependence on foreign oil, make a significant commitment to clean, renewable energy, and ensure that polluters pay for the cost of these investments by establishing a price on pollution from traditional fossil fuels.   A strong bill that includes these priorities will sufficiently drive the necessary investment in clean energy technology to create the well-paid jobs that will revitalize our economy and sustain it for generations to come.”

 

The letter outlined the following four principles:

 

Full text of the letter:

 

Dear Majority Leader Reid,

 

Thank you for your continued work to bring comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation to the Senate floor.  As you work to assemble a comprehensive bill we wanted to share with you some of our key principles for this legislation. 

 

In the wake of the disastrous and ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it is even more essential that the Senate act quickly to reform our nation’s energy policy to end our dependence on foreign oil, make a significant commitment to clean, renewable energy, and ensure that polluters pay for the cost of these investments by establishing a price on pollution from traditional fossil fuels.   A strong bill that includes these priorities will sufficiently drive the necessary investment in clean energy technology to create the well-paid jobs that will revitalize our economy and sustain it for generations to come.  This will also give American businesses the certainty they need to make investment decisions that will allow them to compete in and win the global race for clean energy technology leadership. 

 

The attached principles also reflect priorities President Obama has consistently supported as essential components of comprehensive clean energy legislation.  We look forward to working with you to assemble and pass a strong bill that will establish the United States as a world leader in the rapidly emerging clean energy economy.

 

Full text of the principles:

 

Principle I:  Oil Spill Response and Prevention

We need to pass legislation to ensure that BP and its contractors, not the American people, pay the full cost of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and that oil spill liability laws work to deter future spills.  We also need to prevent future oil spills with provisions that reform regulation of offshore oil and gas production, increase penalties for violations of environmental and worker safety standards on the outer continental shelf, and prohibit drilling in certain coastal areas. 

 

Principle II:  Reducing our Dependence on Foreign Oil

The United States imports 57% of the oil we use, and 70% of those imports come from outside North America.  All told, we send $1 billion overseas
every day to feed our oil addiction.  Those funds often go to countries that do not have our best interests at heart.  To reduce this dependence, we should set a national target to eliminate imports from OPEC nations in 20 years, and enact a national plan to meet that goal. The plan will start by building on the recent agreement to improve fuel efficiency standards through 2016 by driving demand for electric vehicles, investing in alternative fuels, and improving access to public transportation. We can pay for these new initiatives by rolling back wasteful subsidies for the world's largest energy companies or with revenue from a price on oil companies’ carbon pollution.  In just the first quarter of this year, the five largest oil companies reaped over $23 billion in profits. 

 

Principle III:  Clean Energy Jobs

Investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency generate more jobs per dollar invested than conventional energy technologies.   According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, jobs in these sectors grew two and a half times faster than jobs in the economy as whole between 1998 and 2007.  This is just the tip of the iceberg – according to an analysis by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, investments in clean energy could create 1.7 million net new jobs in the next ten years, significantly increasing our industrial and manufacturing competitiveness.  

 

To drive clean energy job growth, while cutting emissions and saving consumers money on their energy bills, clean energy legislation should include a more ambitious renewable energy and energy efficiency standard than the one currently proposed in ACELA.  In addition, legislation should include a significant investment in the research, development, and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, worker training,  and clean energy financing.  To lower the cost of emissions reductions and help achieve pollution reduction targets, legislation should allow for domestic offsets from agriculture and forestry projects.          

 
Principle IV:  Make Polluters Pay

The single most important action we can take to reform our energy policy and make the United States a leader in the global clean energy economy is to make polluters pay for the pollution they emit.  President Obama has consistently called for establishing a price on carbon as part of any comprehensive clean energy legislation Congress passes.

 

Putting an effective price on carbon will drive investment in clean energy technology and create the well-paid jobs that will revitalize our economy and sustain it for generations to come.  A carbon price will also provide certainty in the energy market, and allow American businesses to make the investment decisions that will allow them to compete in and win the global race for clean energy technology leadership. 

 

A price on carbon can be achieved in a number of different ways, but should include the following characteristics: