Environment Washington Lauds Senate Ways and Means Passage of 100% Clean, Renewable Energy Bill
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Environment Washington
Seattle, WA – The Senate Ways and Means Committee has passed SB 6253, Washington’s 100% Clean, Renewable Energy Bill, a bill that would require all new investments in energy resources be fossil-free, prioritizing energy efficiency, renewable energy, demand response, and energy storage, and transition Washington towards 100% clean, renewable energy.
Following is Environment Washington Director Bruce Speight’s statement on its passage out of this committee:
“We applaud the Senate Energy, Environment and Technology Committee, and now the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s approval of this bill. It’s 2018. We have the technology, the know-how and the power to capture clean, abundant renewable energy from the sun and the wind, and we can do it more efficiently and cheaply than ever before. Yet we’re still producing, consuming and wasting energy in ways that do lasting damage to our environment and our health.
We need a bold and clear vision of a greener, healthier world, one powered solely by clean, renewable energy. This bill is a great example of the concrete steps we need to take right now to bring us closer to the world we want to live in.
Fortunately, clean energy and energy efficiency are growing rapidly. Since 2007, Washington State has seen a more than 170-fold increase in the amount of power we get from the sun and a more than 3-fold increase in wind energy production. At the same time technologies, like energy storage are rapidly advancing and becoming cheaper. And communities like Edmonds and Whatcom County are leading the way by committing to 100% renewable electricity. It’s time for our state to lead as well.
In addition to the environmental and public health benefits, moving to renewable energy produced from local solar and wind installations will bring significant economic and job growth benefits to our communities, while protecting residents and businesses from the unpredictable cost of fossil fuels.”
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Environment Washington is a statewide, membership-based environmental advocacy organization.
