Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
Issues
Climate Bill
Inslee files targeted climate bill, calls for House action this year
31 July 2008
At a clean-energy exposition on Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) announced the introduction of targeted climate legislation he hopes Congress will pass this year.
“Just because we’re looking at next year to enact a cap-and-trade system, we can’t throw our hands in the air and stand idle this year as the planet cooks,” said Inslee, who was a sponsor of the event as a member of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus. “Congress can and should pass these common-sense measures this fall to show our commitment to establishing energy security and addressing climate change.”
Filed today in the House, Inslee’s U.S. Climate Action Now (CAN) Act would adopt national standards to improve efficiency of buildings 30 percent by 2010; identify means of connecting remotely located renewable energy resources to the electricity grid; help Americans who want to install solar panels and other renewable electric power generators at their homes or businesses connect to the grid; codify into law an ongoing National Bioenergy Partnership that promotes the deployment of existing and emerging bioenergy technologies through five regional programs; and, take first steps toward reducing emissions of black carbon, a soot particle with powerful global-warming properties and dangerous effects on human health.
A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Inslee is a congressional expert on green technologies and leader on clean-energy legislation. He already has authored several key climate bills during this session of Congress including the New Apollo Energy Act, H.R. 2809; Renewable Energy Jobs and Security Act, H.R. 6401; Rural Clean Energy Superhighways Act, H.R.4059; Advanced Design in Energy for Living Efficiently Act, H.R.3031; Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Promotion Act, H.R. 2036; Industrial Cogeneration Act, H.R.2001; and, Home Energy Generation Act, H.R. 729.
Inslee unveiled his climate legislation at the 11th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum, hosted by the Sustainable Energy Coalition and members of the House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency caucuses. The daylong event in the caucus room of the Cannon House Office Building brought together business, government and energy-policy associations to showcase the status and near-term potential of a range of green technologies.