Four members of the United States House of Representatives have introduced a renewable energy bill that calls for the phasing out of fossil fuels by 2050.
Jared Polis, D-Colorado; Jared Huffman, D-California; Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington; and Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona are the U.S. Representatives involved with the bill. It should be mentioned that this is The House version of a bill introduced by The Senate a few months ago in April of 2017.
This is certainly landmark legislation as it is the first bill introduced by the House of Representatives that addresses a complete, eventual switch from fossil fuel energy to renewables.
As justification for the bill, Representative Polis states that – “To remain a global economic leader, we must invest in renewable energy technology and fully embrace a cleaner, carbon-free future.”
The bill has 7 core components paraphrased below;
- Greening the Grid: End fossil fuel electricity by 2050 through a mandatory fossil fuel phase-out. Fossil fuels will be replaced by renewable energy and energy storage systems.
- Electrifying the Energy Economy: Heating systems and transportation will be powered by a clean electrical grid. Zero emission vehicles and zero emission heating systems will become standard. Carbon taxing authority for commercial aviation, maritime, and rail will be enacted.
- Clean and Renewable Energy for All: Low-income and disadvantaged communities will share in the benefits and take part in this transition to a 100 percent renewable energy society. Job training, grants, and affordable transportation will be provided.
- Just Transition for Workers: Provide a just transition to the renewable energy industry for people who currently work in the fossil fuel industry.
- Ending New Fossil Fuel Investments: The bill calls for the ending of fossil fuel subsidies and the disapproval of any new major pipelines.
- Ensuring American Competitiveness: Imposing carbon tariffs for imported carbon-intensive products to maintain a level playing field.
- Mobilizing American Resources: The creation of Climate Bonds will provide planning grants for communities to develop their own 100 percent renewable energy plans.
This comprehensive plan is a bold, yet achievable vision for what may happen to America’s energy future. The bottom line is that prices for renewable energy continue to decrease, albeit at a slower pace now that most of the cost savings have been realized. This is certainly enabling politicians to make bolder claims about a clean energy future that is increasingly likely to happen.
Unfortunately, the topic of clean energy is still highly political. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are far from completely on board with the transition to a 100 percent clean energy economy.
The good news is that the building momentum from the private sector will be enough to ensure that our clean energy future happens with or without major governmental action, however helpful some legislation may be.
Monetary incentive for both the public and private sectors will only increase for renewable energy in the coming years. We need not look down for the new energy gold rush, but to the sky.
