Renewables: A US Congressman’s view

Recently, Refocus Magazine spent an afternoon with US

Representative Ma& ~~~~~~, a key U.S. leader in the effort to

expand the adoption and development of renewable ener-

gy- Udall’s role as co-chair of the U.S. House of

Representatives’ Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Caucus has placed him in a central position in terms of

influencing U.S. federal government renewable energy pol-

icy. Udall’s enthusiastic involvement on renewable energy

matters may portend a brighter future for U.S. policy as he

brings his high-profile leadership to the issue. Not to be

overlooked in this regard is the fact that Udall, who repre-

sents a Colorado congressional district, is a member of an

influential American political family, one that has been

described as the ‘Kennedys of the American West.’

The aggressive pursuit of renewable

energy development and implemen-

tation represents an “enormous

opportunity ” for the United States,

one that has significant political and

economic benefits according to U.S.

Repre-sentative Mark Udall . Specifically, the U.S. should move

aggressively in the direction of more

renewable energy, says Udall, because

it will be better for the environment

on the one hand while creating many

new jobs on the other. Moreover, the

second term U.S. Congressman sug-

gests that less reliance on oil will like-

ly mean a safer world. “Conflict in

the world, if you look

around, is often tied to

oil,” he says. “We can

increase our national

security as well as the

potential for peace

around the world if we

use more renewables

and rely less on oil.” A

world that is sustain-

able in terms of energy

usage would in fact be

safer world, the 5 l-

year-old Udall believes.

“In my mind, a world

that is sustainable is a

world that uses resources in a way

that makes them available for the

next generation. Finding energy

sources that are clean, affordable, and

predictably stable combined with sta-

bilizing the world’s population are the

biggest challenges we face,” Udall

says. “If we could do those things,

we’d have a world that is happier and

more peaceful and one that we could

hand over to our children. In so

doing, we would have kept faith with

the old adage that you don’t inherit

the earth from your parents, you bor-

row it from your children.”

A three-pronged approach Udall believes the U.S. federal govern-

ment should be taking action to pro-

mote renewable energy and energy

efficiency in three specific areas. First,

the amount of money spent on

research and development of renew-

able energy and energy efficiency

should be significantly increased.

“Under the Bush energy proposal, we

will spend about $5 billion over the

next 10 years on research and market

penetration for renewables and energy

efficiency and about $28 billion on

conventional sources for the same

activities. I think the $33 billion

package should be split about 50-50

between renewables and convention-

al.” Udall points out that I50 years

ago, at the beginning of the petroleum

era, the federal government invested

considerable monies researching

petroleum uses. Second, the federal

government should become more sig-

ni&antly involved in helping develop

renewable energy markets. He cites

several examples; purchasing and leas-

ing hybrid cars; making more use of

aggressive portfolio standards; and

buying more wind power. Finally, the

tax code should be amended to pro-

vide further incentives for renewables.

“Some people say subsidies are bad,

but I don’t think subsidies are good or

bad. I think they are neutral. Besides,

transport, agriculture and energy are

the three most subsidised industries in

the U.S. We subsidize lots of fossil

fuel production.”

Udall was an early and determined

critic of the Bush Administration’s

energy plan, which was released in

mid-200 1. “We are not going to be

able to dig and drill our way out of our

energy problem,” Udall has said. “We

need a balanced approach. We should

focus oil and gas exploration where

there are proven reserves and on feder-

al lands already open to development,

not in sensitive areas, like the Arctic

National Wildlife Relirge or on our

national monuments or national

parks. At the same time, we should

focus more attention and funding on

developing alternative, renewable

sources, like wind, solar and biomass.”

Energy efficiency = more jobs An example of Udall’s renewable ener-

gy legislative activity is a bill he intro-

duced to couple better school facilities

with protection for the environment.

48 March/April 2002 REFOCUS www.re-focus.net

RE caucuses in the US The cause of renewable energy in Washington, D.C., is

actively pursued by two U.S. Congressional caucuses, one

made up of members of the U.S. House of Representatives

and the other consisting of members of the U.S. Senate.

The aim of the caucuses is to provide a bipartisan forum

for disseminating information about energy efficiency and

renewable energy technologies. While not actively advo-

cating or sponsoring specific pieces of legislation, the cau-

cuses tend to support a larger federal effort in terms of

research and development funding for renewable energy.

Historically, the caucuses have sponsored an annual

Renewable Energy Expo, held every spring since 1996.

Nearly 3,000 people attended the 2001 Expo, which high-

lighted cutting-edge technologies. The House caucus,

which is co chaired by U.S. Reps. Mark Udall of Colorado

and Zach Wamp of Tennessee, was founded on Feb. 6,

1996, by seven members of the House. Today it has

grown to nearly 200 members representing 41 states.

According to co chairs Udall and Wamp, the immediate

goal of the House caucus is to attract 2 18 members, which

would represent a majority of the 435 members of the

U.S. House. The long-term goal, according to Udall, is to

have every member of the House in the caucus. “In every

one of the 435 districts, there is private sector activity

going on in terms of renewables and energy efficiency.

Emphasizing private economic development is how you

catch members’ attention,” he says. Wamp says that

increasing production of renewable energy is necessary “to

preserve and expand our economy and protect the envi-

ronment.” The Senate caucus includes more than 30 sen-

ators representing 27 states. U.S. Senators Wayne Allard

of Colorado and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota serve as

co chairs. The full list of U.S. Senators belonging to the

caucus can be found at: www.sustainableenergy.org/

caucuses/senate_re_ee_caucus.htm.

Udall’s bill would help schools save

money by promoting the construction

of facilities that would use advanced

energy conservation technologies, day-

lighting, and renewable energy. “Fully

25 percent of the energy used in

today’s schools is wasted, costing

schools some $1.5 billion every year.

Ending this waste could pay for the

entire careers of 70 additional teachers

in each of the nation’s [435] congres-

sional districts,” he says. Moreover,

Udall has publicly urged the Public

Utilities Commission in Colorado to

require local power producer, Xcel, to

buy more wind power. “We must

diversie our energy mix to include

clean energy sources in order to plan

for the future,” Udall told the

Commission. “I urge [the

Commission] to do all you can to

ensure Xcel takes the necessary steps to

protect consumers, our economy, and

environment.”

INTERVIEW

Despite the fact that Udall agrees

that his view of the importance of

renewable energy is not necessarily one

that is shared by all of his colleagues in

the U.S. Congress, the road ahead

doesn’t discourage him. “1 see one of

my missions is to create more converts

and make the case that renewables are

good for business, good for the envi-

ronment, and can help with stability

in the world,” Udali says. “You can

trace a lot of conflicts in the world

back to low standards of living and

people feeling like their dreams and

hopes will never be realised. If you

had more abundant energ available,

you would go a long way towards

addressing this. Renewables can play a

big part.”

EU: please keep the pressure on Udall is well aware of the impression

in the European Union char renew-

ables and energy efficiency policies are

not top priorities in the U.S., but he

suggests a response to Europeans that

is not often heard from American

politicians. “I think the E.U. should

keep doing what they are doing

because they are providing leadership

both politically and economically. In

this regard, as the world becomes more

interdependent, if you have portfolio

standards, if you are trying to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions, if you are

promoting renewables, it’s not going

to go unnoticed in the U.S. The E.U.,

in this manner, will force the U.S. to

adapt and adopt.”

Notwithstanding the current U.S.

unwillingness to sign on to the Kyoto

Protocol, Rep. Udall suggests that the

efforts of the E.U., Japan, and other

signatories of the protocol may have

more leverage vis-a-vis American busi-

nesses than one might expect since

American firms will not likely want to

operate under one set of standards in

the U.S. and another in Japan or the

E.U. “There is more leverage there

than you might think,” he says.

Moreover, Udall also sees some

changes in domestic political positions

as elected officials conclude that

renewable energy may be an economic

benefit to their states. He points to

senators from the American midwest.

“Most farm state senators resisted

Kyoto because they thought it would

hurt their farm constituents compete

March/April 2002 RE :’ www.re-fbcus.nct

with agricultural products from over-

seas. However, most of these senators

are supportive of the wind production

tax credit because they see this as a

new ‘cash crop’ for farmers in their

states,” he says adding that many

officials are not as opposed to efforts to

reduce greenhouse gas emissions as

their rhetoric might suggest.

Hands on experience In addition to serving in the U.S.

House of Representatives, where he is

a member of the Committees on

Resources, Science, and Small

Business, Udall recently joined the

Global Legislators’ Organisation for a

Balanced Environment (GLOBE).

Many observers believe that the

renewables policy debate in the U.S. is

helped in a significant way

bY having someone as

visible and well respected as Udall at

the helm of the debate. In the minds

of some, the push for renewable ener-

gy is perhaps at the core of Udall’s per-

sonal and political philosophy. And it

may be this core belief, coupled with

his own leadership abilities, that will

lead Udall to seek higher political

office in Colorado or perhaps nation-

ally. At this time, Udall is careful to

note that he is honoured to be serving

the constituents of his congressional

district.

Notwithstanding the historical

reluctance of the U.S. Congress to take

action on difficult and controversial

energy issues, Udall is thoughtful

about the challenges that lie ahead for

renewable energy policy. “We have an

opportunity to be proactive and to

make these changes in logical,

thoughtful steps that don’t cause a lot

of disruption,” Udall says. “If we

don’t, however, we are going to be

forced in 50 years to take steps which

will be much more painful, and

because we didn’t act, we may have

damaged the world’s climate and creat-

ed significant disruptions in human

society and economic activity and, in

the process, created more political

instability.”

Contact: U.S. Representative Mark

Udall, 115 Cannon House Office

Building, Washington, D.C. 205 15

USA. Tel: +l 202 225 2161;

Fax: + 1 202 226 7840; www.house.govl

markudall.

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