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Kitsap Sun

Introducing the New Apollo Energy Act

Jay Inslee
18 June 2007

Advances in the science of clean-energy technologies have exploded in the last few years. Now changes in national energy policy are about to take off as well.

In terms of technology, just look at the example of hybrid cars. In 2005, gas-electric hybrid vehicles were just reaching mainstream status, with over 200,000 sold that year in the United States. This month, Toyota sold its millionth hybrid car.

And earlier this year, I test-drove a next generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that gets 150 miles per gallon – about three times the efficiency of a gas-electric hybrid. It charges overnight at a 120-volt outlet and runs for up to 40 miles off that charge. For longer trips, the battery recharges while the car is driven, using gasoline or even environmentally friendly biofuel. This technology is on the cusp of commercialization. A conversion kit will be available before the end of this year to transform gas-electric hybrids to more efficient plug-in hybrids.

In terms of policy, a congressional hearing was held as recently as July 2006 to question scientific studies that showed a steady rise in global temperatures. In a complete reversal this year, the House, under new leadership, created a committee called the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which is solely dedicated to addressing the specter of climate change.

This week, I’ll introduce the second version of the New Apollo Energy Act, which is as bold as the new technologies popping up around the country. Though political and technological possibilities have changed significantly in just two years, the goals of this bill remain the same: create American jobs by spurring development of homegrown green technologies; increase national security by freeing the United States from reliance on unstable, oil rich regimes; and, tame climate change by cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from industries, utilities and the transportation sector.

These goals are accomplished in the second version of the legislation with many of the same programs that were included in the first: higher vehicle fuel efficiency standards, a federal renewable portfolio standard like the one Washington state approved in November, a cap and trade program to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, increased funding for research and development of green technologies, and tax incentives for consumers, industries and utilities. A few notable programs have been added to the suite of solutions laid out in the first version of the bill. They include a venture capital corporation that would be set up to encourage private investment in new technologies and a low carbon fuels standard that would be established to move our nation away from fossil fuels and corn ethanol and toward more sustainable transportation fuels. 

Most notably, the New Apollo Energy Act for the 110th Congress is more aggressive than its predecessor in the 109th Congress. This change is a reflection of the rising urgency in the fight against global warming and the flood of innovative new technologies that will provide solutions to the energy challenges we face in a carbon-constrained world.

Look specifically to the cap on carbon. In 2005, the New Apollo Energy Act capped economy-wide greenhouse-gas emissions at year 2000 levels by 2020. This then represented one of the most aggressive legislative proposals. The new version of the bill would cut U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. 

Emissions cuts and other provisions are more aggressive in this version of the bill to prevent worst-case, climate-change scenarios. These improvements also were made to give American innovators and entrepreneurs more incentive to invest in the research, development and implementation of clean-energy technologies. Measures that are ambitious and predictable – rather than toothless or voluntary – will help ensure the United States becomes a global leader in the clean-energy revolution and exporter of green technologies, maximizing the economic opportunity presented by climate change.

This version of the New Apollo Energy Act is more aggressive and includes several new solutions. But like its goals, the impetus behind the legislation has been constant. Some have surmised that this bill has been motivated by fear of climate change. Though we all should have serious concerns about impacts of global warming on humans and the environment, the impetus behind the bill always has been optimism – optimism that Americans can apply our creative genius to solve this pressing problem and lead the world in the clean-energy revolution. This point bears repeating.

Americans are the most prolific innovators in human history. We invented the automobile, airplane and the Internet. With President John F. Kennedy’s visionary leadership and the Apollo Project, we were able to get humans to the moon and safely back in the 1960’s. We need to make a similar national commitment to and investment in a New Apollo Project, this time focused on transitioning our economy from one that runs on fossil fuels to one that runs on green technologies.

The bad news is that we’ve seen the continued breaking of ice in the Arctic during the last two years. But the good news is that in this same time, attitudes of congressional leaders have changed and technology has advanced at a pace closer to lightning than glaciers.

It is with renewed hope that I reintroduce the New Apollo Energy Act in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. The House will consider energy-independence and global-warming legislation in coming months. Chances are good that significant parts of my broad clean-energy legislation, or bills with similar goals, will win passage during this session of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee represents the 1st Congressional District in Washington state. He serves on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the House Energy and Commerce and House Natural Resources committees.