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U.S.
Senator Ken Salazar
Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees
2300 15th
Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO
80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C.
20510
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Sen.
Salazar Lauds Gov. Ritter’s Climate Action Plan, Work in Senate Parallels
Gov.’s Call for Legislative Action
WASHINGTON,
DC – United States Senator Ken Salazar lauded Governor Ritter’s
report released today outlining a strategy for the State of Colorado
to address global warming and provided an update of his renewable energy
and climate change efforts in the Senate. Meaningful steps toward energy
independence and the reduction of greenhouse gasses will only occur
if the federal and state governments work hand in hand toward solutions.
Senator Salazar, as a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
and the Finance Committee, continues to work at the federal level to
assemble and support legislation that will bolster Colorado’s renewable
energy leadership and move our Nation towards energy independence.
“I applaud Governor
Ritter’s vision and strategy to address global warming. Colorado has
long been at the forefront of our Nation’s efforts to create a new,
clean energy economy for the twenty-first century that reduces greenhouse
gasses, and the Governor’s plan is a huge step toward ensuring we address
the issue at the state level,” said Senator Salazar. “We are all in
this together, and the federal and state governments must have a collaborative
relationship in addressing global warming and creating a clean energy
economy. I will continue to work hard in the Senate to support and bolster
Governor Ritter’s initiative.”
In his report, Governor
Ritter outlined several initiatives on which he encourages action by
the federal government. Senator Salazar is a leader on many of those
issues in the United States Senate, including:
- National Renewable
Energy Portfolio Standard: Colorado’s experience with respect
to a Renewable Energy Portfolio has been an absolutely positive one,
and Senator Salazar is supportive of a national renewable electricity
standard. A Renewable Electricity Standard was included in the House-passed
energy bill and would require utilities to produce 15 percent of their
energy from renewable resources by 2020. Senator Salazar is an original
sponsor of a similar provision in the Senate, and supports its inclusion
in the final energy bill to be considered by the House and Senate.
Senator Salazar strongly supports Amendment 37, which Colorado voters
approved in 2004, that requires Colorado’s top utility companies to
provide a percentage of their retail electricity sales from renewable
resources.
- CAFE Standards:
Senator Salazar was a strong proponent of achievable increases to
vehicle efficiency standards. The energy bill passed by the Senate
passed took meaningful, but not unrealistic, steps to improve vehicle
efficiency standards. Under the Senate-passed version of the Energy
Bill (H.R. 6), the overall fleet of new cars and light trucks will
be increased to 35 mpg by 2020.
- Research and
Development for Biofuels, particularly cellulosic ethanol: Senator
Salazar believes cellulosic biofuels have a real chance to displace
significant amounts of foreign oil, and that we should do everything
we can to encourage their production. Senator Salazar was successful
in including in the Senate Finance Committee-passed tax package a
new Cellulosic Biofuels Tax Credit, which would incentivize
the production of cellulosic biofuels. It is a first-of-its-kind tax
credit creating a new production tax credit of 67¢ per gallon
(in addition to the current 51¢/gallon ethanol credit and the
10¢/gallon credit for small producers), for a total credit of
$1.28 per gallon for cellulosic fuel production.
- Supporting Cutting
edge research on energy efficiency and renewable energy in Colorado:
Earlier this year, Senator Salazar was successful increasing funding
for the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)
in Golden by more than $107 million for Fiscal Year 2007. This increase
includes $20 million to expand the lab’s Integrated Biorefinery Research
Facility, $17 million to equip the lab’s new Science & Technology
facility, and $63 million to design and build a new Research Support
Facility on NREL’s campus.
| Senator Salazar was
also able to secure an authorization in the Farm Bill of $5 million
in annual funds (subject to appropriations) for the Colorado Renewable
Energy Collaboratory which pools the efforts of CSU, CU, NREL and
School of Mines into an association. This association takes world
class research on new energy technologies and helps deploy those
technologies as rapidly as possible to the private sector. The Colorado
Renewable Energy Collaboratory has done important research related
to solar and wind energy technology as well as the Colorado Center
for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2). In the coming years, C2B2’s
research will gradually transition us away from oil and gas and
toward renewable sources of energy, which is good for Colorado,
good for America and good for our economic and environmental future. |
- Bolstering Biomass
and Biochar development: In the 2007 Farm Bill, Senator Salazar
was able to include $500 million for biomass research and development
and for competitive grants to develop the technologies and processes
necessary for the commercial production of biofuels and bio-based
products. Biomass is an organic material, usually referring to plant
matter or animal waste. Using biomass for energy can reduce waste
and air pollution. Biochar is a byproduct of producing energy from
biomass. As a soil treatment, it enhances the ability of soil to capture
and retain carbon dioxide.
- Development of
Carbon Sequestration Technology: To advance technologies
for clean coal and carbon sequestration, Senator Salazar has introduced
various pieces of legislation addressing carbon sequestration. Senator
Salazar introduced the “CO2 Pipeline Study Act of 2007,” which would
ensure that we develop the pipeline infrastructure needed to capture,
transport and sequester a major contributor to global warming - carbon
dioxide. It directs the Departments of Energy, Commerce and Interior,
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection
Agency to prepare a report and offer recommendations to Congress on
the myriad of issues that are vital to fostering the development of
a CO2 pipeline infrastructure.
| Senator Salazar was
also able to include in the Senate-passed energy bill the “National
Carbon Dioxide Storage Capacity Assessment Act of 2007,” which would
authorizes the U.S. Geological Service (USGS), in cooperation with
the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency,
to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the Nation’s ability to
store carbon dioxide in appropriate geologic features and other
natural basins. This inventory would provide data on storage locations,
estimates for the volume of carbon dioxide storage capabilities
and other factors. |
Read more about
Senator Salazar’s work towards a new energy economy:
Sen.
Salazar Lauds Major Step to Pass Farm Bill that Reinvests in Rural America
Salazar
Lauds Passage of Finance Comm. Ag Tax Package/ Includes Ag Disaster
Fund & Essential Ag & Energy Incentives
Sen.
Salazar Lauds Historic Energy Legislation to Help Set America Free from
Dependence on Foreign Oil
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