As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
SEATTLE—The
Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) today launched a
new campaign calling on congressional candidates to support policies to
move America beyond oil and toward a cleaner energy future.
“There
is no question that America has the know-how to reduce our dependence
on oil and move toward a cleaner, more secure energy future,” said Amy
Peterson, Field Associate with WashPIRG. “We need leaders who support
moving America in a new direction that puts our national security, our
environment, our global climate, and our children’s futures above Big
Oil and other powerful interests,” continued Peterson.
WashPIRG
is asking all congressional candidates to deliver on the promise of a
New Energy Future by committing to support policies that help the U.S.
achieve four key goals:
• Reduce U.S. dependence on oil by saving one-third of the oil we use today by 2025;
• Harness clean, renewable, homegrown energy sources for at least one quarter of all energy needs by 2025;
• Save energy with high performance homes, buildings and appliances so
that by 2025 we use 10 percent less energy than we do today; and
• Invest in a New Energy Future by tripling research and development
funding for the energy-saving and renewable technologies we need to
achieve these goals.
WashPIRG
also released a report today showing the benefits of these policies to
America’s environment, economy, and national security. WashPIRG found
that achieving these goals, by 2025 would enable the United States to:
• Save 10.8 million barrels of oil per day, equal to four-fifths of the amount of oil we currently import from all other nations in the world.
• Save 9.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year, nearly twice as much as currently used in all of America’s homes.
• Save 900 million tons of coal per year, or about 80 percent of all the coal consumed in the United States in 2005.
• Save 1.7 billion megawatt-hours of electricity per year, 30 percent more than was used in all the households in America in 2005.
“The
potential payback from these efforts is tremendous,” said Peterson.
“The result will be a cleaner, more sustainable foundation on which to
build America’s economy for the 21st century,” continued Peterson.
Over the next six weeks, WashPIRG will work with State PIRGs and State
Environment groups across the country to build support for the goals of
the New Energy Future in more than 50 of the highest profile
congressional races.
