"CLEAN ENERGY STANDARD" – WHAT OBAMA IS GETTING WRONG

Dear Friend,

Last night President Obama called for an "all of the above" approach to our energy policies. He advocated for a "Clean Energy Standard" and specifically endorsed shale gas and fracking, saying it would be done "safely". He called on the gas companies to divulge the chemicals they use in the process and did not suggest that, at a bare minimum, these chemicals should be regulated to protect public health and fragile water resources.

The only thing 'clean' about the energy future that President Obama laid out last night is his misuse of the word 'clean'.

Most of the national environmental groups and many foundations have adopted and aggressively advocated natural gas as a "bridge fuel" saying it will lead us to a renewable energy future. They argue that working with the natural gas industry will help move the nation beyond coal. The bridge they are helping to build leads to a one way street to a business as usual energy future. The CES as proposed by President Obama includes coal with Carbon Capture and Sequestration and nuclear power!

George Orwell must be dancing in his grave! This double-talk confuses the public who do not have the time to follow the ins and outs of energy debates. They want affordable energy and a sense that someone can lead toward a sound economy. When asked, the public overwhelmingly does not want to pay the price of business as usual with the health and safety. They know that we can achieve a new energy future with energy efficiency and off the shelf technologies. And the study has been done to prove it.

A "Clean Energy Standard" replaces a Renewable Energy Standard, the precise policy that has helped states move their energy mixes to serious deployment of wind and solar energy. It is a development that we cannot let go unchallenged. National environmental groups seem incapable of leading.

Leadership for a safe, healthy energy rests in the hands of state and local organizations who understand first hand what business as usual means for our communities, for the health of our families and future generations.

Here is a critique of CES that we offer for your reading and your use in discussions, writing on these issues and in organizing.

The future is in our hands!

Pam Solo
for theClean.org