House Energy Bill “Mired in Ideas and Technologies of the Past”

“The U.S. House of Representatives just passed an energy bill that is mired in the ideas and technologies of the past, at a time when we should be embracing a clean energy future.

“This is the first major energy bill the House has considered in eight years, but this bill doesn’t include any new or innovative ideas we didn’t have eight years ago – or for that matter, half a century ago. H.R. 8 includes a strong presumption in favor of traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels and nuclear power, while creating new hurdles for renewables, energy efficiency, and microgrids – the technologies that America and the rest of the world are increasingly embracing.

“Disappointingly, the House also rejected a proposal for the energy bill to include a climate score, in the same way major bills have a budget score. That means Americans have no way of knowing whether their energy bill is helping or hurting efforts to address climate change.

“We need strong Congressional leadership to harness the economic and environmental benefits of a clean energy economy. We should be diversifying our electric grid to include more and cleaner energy sources, instead of entrenching its bias for fossil fuels. This bill takes us in the wrong direction.”

- Elizabeth Thompson, EDFAction president