Pennsylvania stands at a crossroads.
Will we continue down the business-as-usual path, relying on dirty and dangerous 19th Century technology, or will we join the 21st Century clean energy economy, cut air, water and global warming pollution, and bring Great Green Jobs to the Keystone State?
That decision is now before the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate will be considering important great green jobs bills this spring. Together, these bills lay out a forward-looking energy policy for Pennsylvania that will create tens of thousands of jobs in the solar, wind, and energy efficiency industries.
The key points of the Campaign for Great Green Jobs principles are currently embodied in two pieces of legislation. House Bill 2200 (HB 2200) , the energy savings bill, creates robust energy efficiency and conservation programs in all parts of Pennsylvania and gives every electric consumer a smart meter, a key tool for managing electricity use. Special Session House Bill 1 (SHB 1) , the clean energy funding bill, provides $850 million of investments in renewable energy, green buildings and energy efficiency. Included in the bill is $200 million for solar energy.
Pennsylvania is competing in a national and global market for thousands of clean energy jobs that will be created over the next decade. Right now, the Commonwealth is holding its own, thanks to the incentives for renewable energy created by passage of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS) in 2004. This landmark law requires that 8 percent of all of the electricity sold in Pennsylvania come from solar, wind and biomass resources.
But four years later, the stakes are higher and Pennsylvania's competitors are putting up cash to attract renewable energy businesses. Right across the Delaware, New Jersey Public Service and Gas Company has a $100 million program to provide long-term loans to builders and homeowners who install solar energy systems.
Pennsylvania needs the tools to compete, and the energy savings bill and the clean energy funding bill will give us those tools. By saving energy and money and investing in clean energy industries about to boom, we can create thousands of great green jobs.
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Campaign Principles
Pennsylvania has the opportunity to adopt energy conservation programs and enact incentives for the development of new renewable energy resources and green buildings that will create good, permanent jobs, save consumers and businesses money, reduce unhealthy air pollution and fight global warming. We urge the Pennsylvania General Assembly to enact legislation that:
TAKE ACTION! Tell your elected officials that Pennsylvania needs Great Green Jobs!
