SEIA - MOVING SENATE CLEAN ENERGY LEGISLATION FORWARD GOOD FOR SOLAR INDUSTRY

Environment and Public Works Committee passes bill with strong solar provisions

WASHINGTON, DC – Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President and CEO Rhone Resch today released the following statement on Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passage of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733):

“Chairman Boxer and Senator Kerry should be commended for their leadership in moving clean energy legislation forward in the Senate. According to recent independent polling, 92 percent of the American public supports developing and using clean, reliable solar energy. This bill would send a clear signal to the market that emitting carbon has a price and that clean, renewable energy such as solar carries a premium.

“We look forward to working with the Senate to continue making improvements to this legislation that will help restore America as the world leader in solar energy.”

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For More Information:

Solar Energy Industries Association side-by-side comparison of Senate and House energy and climate legislation - http://www.seia.org/galleries/pdf/House%20and%20Senate%20Energy%20Side%20by%20Side%20with%20Amendments%20AND%20EPW%20climate%20title%202009%2010%2007.pdf

About SEIA:

Established in 1974, the Solar Energy Industries Association is the national trade association of solar energy industry. As the voice of the industry, SEIA works to make solar a mainstream and significant energy source by expanding markets, removing market barriers, strengthening the industry and educating the public on the benefits of solar energy.  Learn more at www.seia.org. 

SEIA President & CEO Rhone Resch is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RhoneResch

SEIA is on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/thesolarindustry) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Solar-Energy-Industries-Association/112495296809) . Read the Solar Bill of Rights at http://www.solarbillofrights.com.

SEIA - SOLAR INDUSTRY STATEMENT ON PLANT SITING, ELECTRIC GRID HEARING IN U.S. HOUSE

WASHINGTON, DC – Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President and CEO Rhone Resch released the following statement on today’s House Natural Resources Committee joint hearing on “Getting Past Gridlock: Models for Renewable Energy Siting and Transmission.” The hearing was led by Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Chairman Jim Costa (D-CA) and Subcommittee on Water and Power Chairwoman Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA):

“We applaud Chairman Costa and Chairwoman Napolitano for taking the lead on addressing issues revolving around the siting of renewable energy projects and transmitting clean energy to where it is needed most.

“The timing of this hearing couldn’t be better. Recent independent polling shows that 92 percent of the American public supports developing and using solar energy. And with the UN Climate Change Conference a month away, this is a great time to talk about one of the most rapid ways to reduce the emissions that lead to global warming: developing utility-scale solar energy.

“America has some of the best solar resources in the world, especially in the Southwest. But to move forward we need a streamlined siting process for utility-scale solar projects and a comprehensive planning process to determine what areas of our electric grid need to be renovated and where new lines might be needed.

“By enacting smart federal policies to accelerate the deployment of utility-scale solar, we can create jobs around the country and diversify America’s energy portfolio.”

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For More Information:

Solar Energy Industries Association and American Wind Energy Association white paper “Green Power Superhighways: Building a Path to America’s Clean Energy Future” - http://seia.org/galleries/pdf/GreenPowerSuperhighways.pdf

SEIA Transmission Background Materials - http://seia.org/cs/transmission

SEIA Plant Siting Background Materials - http://seia.org/cs/federal_issues/plant_siting

About SEIA:

Established in 1974, the Solar Energy Industries Association is the national trade association of solar energy industry. As the voice of the industry, SEIA works to make solar a mainstream and significant energy source by expanding markets, removing market barriers, strengthening the industry and educating the public on the benefits of solar energy.  Learn more at www.seia.org. 

SEIA President & CEO Rhone Resch is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RhoneResch

SEIA is on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/thesolarindustry) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Solar-Energy-Industries-Association/112495296809) . Read the Solar Bill of Rights at http://www.solarbillofrights.com.

SEIA STATEMENT ON SENATE ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE DRAFT CLIMATE LEGISLATION

Bill presents a good start for accelerating solar energy so that U.S. can do more sooner to cut pollution and address climate challenges.

WASHINGTON, DC – Solar Energy Industries Association President and CEO Rhone Resch today released the following statement on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee’s draft language for a cap-and-trade program.

“We commend Chairwoman Boxer and other members of the committee for their leadership in putting forth a strong climate bill that will move America’s clean energy economy forward. This legislation includes provisions that will help accelerate development of solar energy and create jobs while reducing pollution that causes climate change.

“For the long-term success of climate and energy policy in this country, there must be a price on carbon. And we must recognize that for the next 10 to 15 years our only options for carbon-free energy are off-the-shelf renewables such as solar. In the coming weeks, we look forward to working with the EPW committee and other Senate committees to help complete this bill and craft a comprehensive climate policy for our nation that builds our economy by growing our renewables industries.”

Areas that need attention as the draft is completed:

      10 percent of the allowances must go to the states for renewable energy and energy efficiency (as in the House version) and there needs to be deployment funds for both distributed generation and for utility-scale renewables projects;

       The cap-and-trade system must be constructed to recognize and protect the contribution of clean energy from the voluntary renewables market; and

       Support states that are heavily dependent on agriculture in order to assist in the adoption and implementation of renewable energy technology.

Effectivepolicy.org - CONGRESSIONAL INTRODUCTION OF THE CONSTITUTION & CITIZENSHIP DAY ACT OF 2009

CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH CUMMINGS (MD-7) TO INTRODUCE THE CONSTITUTION AND CITIZENSHIP DAY ACT OF 2009 TO THE 111^TH CONGRESS ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

Washington, DC, September 16, 2009 – Congressman Elijah Cummings' Office with the assistance of the Center for Effective Policy in Government and have been working to draft and introduce 'The Constitution and Citizenship Day Act of 2009'.  On Constitution Day of each year (September 17th), this piece of legislation will provide public and charter high schools with an incentive to expose students to the importance of the Constitution through coordinated assemblies and/or events, as well as to distribute and collect voter registration forms from eligible students of those schools pursuant to state law.

This federal legislation will have a generational effect on the civic education of public school students across the country, and it will ultimately lead to a vast overall expansion of our nation's electorate. This bill is patterned after SB 128, a successful piece of state legislation passed and signed into law in Maryland in 2007 under the same name. Since the passage of the state measure, the Maryland Board of Elections, between the 2006 and 2008 electoral cycles cites a 90% increase in voter registration of 17 and 18 year old new voter applicants in the state.

Organizations and elected officials such as Common Cause, Democracy Matters, The Washington Metropolitan Council AFL-CIO, Hip Hop Caucus, the Student Association for Voter Empowerment, Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley, co-sponsors Congressmen Kendrick Meek, (FL-17); Charles Rangel, (NY-15); John Conyers,  (MI-14); Eleanor Holmes-Norton, (DC); Maxine Waters, (CA-35); Diane Watson, (CA-33); Donald Payne, (NJ-10); Melvin Watt (NC-12); Andre Carson, (IN-7) all have formally endorsed this important piece of federal legislation that will assist new young voters in becoming fully aware of the document that binds us all in a democratic union and their responsibility within the political process is legislation long overdue.

CoSponsor Letter

Bill Details

NH-HRA Adopts a Citizens’ Legislative Agenda

With an eye to the economic distress and an ear to constituent concerns, the New Hampshire House Republican Alliance (the “HRA”) announced their legislative initiatives for the upcoming session. This agenda is the results of meetings and discussions involving approximately 50 New Hampshire state representatives among themselves and with their constituents.

These meetings led the HRA to recognize five primary concerns of New Hampshire citizens that they want address by their state government: health care costs and availability, over-spending resulting in increasing deficits and taxes, promotion of jobs, reversing the radical social agenda of the left, and ensuring an open, accountable and ethical government.  The HRA’s legislative agenda addresses each of these five goals and the organization appointed five coordinators to assist sponsors of the legislation chosen as promoting those goals.

Answering the confusion caused by national health care ambitions, Representative Bob Willette (R-Milford) outlined the HRA support of bills allowing expansion of the New Hampshire health insurance market. “Current legislative mandates have driven dozens of health insurers from the state resulting in an uncompetitive market with high premiums,” Rep. Willette explained. Proposed legislation would allow residents of New Hampshire to purchase insurance from any health insurance carrier in the United States. The result should be fewer uninsured patients and less of a burden on taxpayer supported health care solutions. The HRA also understand that members of Congress should have the same health care they propose for citizens and supports a resolution advising them to take that courageous step.

The Democrat-dominated NH House increased state spending by 10 % and passed over 38 new taxes and fees the first half of this term, so the HRA conferees understood that NH citizens and business will need quick and significant tax relief.  Seven such bills are being sponsored by the HRA.  As Rep. Carol McGuire (R- Epsom) said with regard to two of them, “Repeal of the anti-business LLC tax and the onerous ‘camping’ tax lead the list of the committee’s proposed bills and their repeal is necessary to preserve jobs and avoid stifling our state’s recovery from this ongoing recession.”

Rep. Bill O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) said, “The Legislature’s Democrats have now come up with what we should now call the New Hampshire Disadvantage and this disadvantage is that we are the fourth worse state in amount of regulation among all fifty states. Expecting business to locate here or expand in the Granite State is unrealistic given the heavy regulatory burden imposed by state laws. We regulate every job creating entity from manufacturers to people who manicure and pedicure and that has to end.”  Other legislation involves repealing health care insurance mandates, which could reduce by half the cost of this insurance.

            Former judge and current Representative Rob Rowe (R-Amherst) plans to introduce important initiatives for better government, include prohibiting lobbyists from serving in conflicting roles on state committees and commissions. In addition, Rep. Bob Mead (R-Mont Vernon) will be seeking a commission to investigate the method for vetting bidders and those not bidding but being awarded state contracts involving the use of state owned property, such as the state-owned rail tracks in Hillsborough County.  Good government measures will also include publishing the states’ check register online.  As Rep. John Reagan (R-Deerfield) said, “It works in Texas and should be required in New Hampshire which has a strong tradition of an open and accountable government.”

            House Republican Alliance is an open meeting group supporting Republican House legislation that adheres to the US and NH Constitutions, Republican Party platform and principles of fiscal responsibility. The HRA annual legislative summit producing this year’s agenda saw participation by more than forty Republican State Representatives. . For more information, please log onto www.nhhra.org ###