James M. Jeffords: “One would hope we would not have to continue with the barrage of amendments that attempt to deprive the American public…”

“One would hope we would not have to continue with the barrage of amendments that attempt to deprive the American public access for increased renewable resources. Make no mistake, the American public has made it very clear they support renewable energy. Poll after poll indicates the overwhelming majority of Americans support requiring utilities to produce electricity from renewable energy resources. Americans want clean energy. They want technology that leaves the air clean, that does not contribute to lung cancer, that does not sicken their children. They want to diversify or domestically produce energy to buffer against price instability, and to lessen the vulnerability of our energy infrastructure through terrorist attack. But we have yet another amendment that would weaken efforts to encourage production of renewable energy. This amendment allows a State to opt out of the energy program at any time the Governors certify it would adversely affect the consumers of the State. Clearly, this is no standard at all. First, a certification that something 'may adversely affect' consumers is pretty close to being as loose a statutory requirement as anyone can craft. The obvious effect is to allow States to opt out, leaving a piecemeal and unpredictable program. As I said before, one of the overarching benefits of the Federal renewable energy standard is that it encourages regional generation and distribution of renewable energy.”