"President Bush’s energy program won’t help lower gas prices or slow global warming. The president called for ending our addiction to oil, but there’s no 12-step program in his budget. President Bush’s proposed budget actually cuts funding for energy efficiency, and for research on hydropower and geothermal energy." – Toby Chaudhuri, Apollo Alliance Communications Director
ST. PAUL – Minnesota and other states are already leading the way on clean energy as President Bush travels the country to sell his plan to end the country’s "addiction to oil," according to a report released today by the Apollo Alliance. The report, called "New Energy for States," outlines the best state-based clean energy solutions the president can adopt nationally.
President Bush has visited alternative energy companies in Auburn Hills, Mich., Milwaukee, Wis., and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. to discuss energy policies.
Apollo Alliance president Jerome Ringo said that the president should adopt Minnesota’s leading-edge strategies to develop clean energy and good jobs.
"The president did a great service by admitting we must end our addiction to oil," Ringo said. "Taken together, states offer a clean energy blueprint that could create thousands of jobs and make the president’s dream a reality."
Minnesota has the nation’s most ambitious renewable fuels standard, boosting farm income and protecting residents from the rising cost of oil, according to the Apollo Alliance report. Enacted in 2002, Minnesota’s law stipulates that all gasoline must contain 20 percent ethanol – most of which now comes from corn – by 2013.
The report documents dozens of state-level policies that could provide a blueprint to end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, promote clean fuels and create millions of good jobs. Minnesota and 22 other states have standards to increase the share of electric power from renewable sources like wind and sun.
Minnesota, Arizona, Vermont and 21 other states have also adopted creative public-private funding mechanisms that make clean energy investments without straining budgets or raising taxes. New York, Missouri and Hawaii have adopted aggressive programs to replace oil imports with homegrown fuels.
The Apollo Alliance has a 10-step national agenda to create energy independence by the year 2015. The alliance represents a coalition of national security, labor, environmental, civil rights and business leaders who are fighting for energy independence from foreign energy sources. For more information about the Apollo Alliance, visit www.apolloalliance.org
