100 Businesses and organizations urge Congress to support renewable energy tax incentives, higher vehicle fuel efficiency standards, and a mandatory renewable electricity standard; but congressional leaders consider dropping key sustainable energy provisions from proposed legislation.

In a letter delivered November 14 to leaders of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives as well as Members of key congressional committees, 100 businesses and organizations urged that any national energy legislation include several key sustainable energy provisions.

These include a fuel efficiency standard of at least 35 mpg for cars and light trucks by 2020; extension and expansion of key renewable energy tax incentives; and a mandatory national standard of at least 15% of the nation's electricity generated from renewable sources by 2020.

"The rapidly worsening threat of global climate change, the economic and national security risks posed by rising oil prices and energy imports, and the on-going environmental and safety concerns associated with nuclear power all call for increased national support for sustainable energy policies," according to the letter's signers, which also included more than two dozen individuals.

"A national energy strategy that truly addresses [these] multiple challenges ... will necessarily need to be far more comprehensive ... and far more aggressive ... than suggested by these initial measures. ... Nonetheless, these preliminary actions would represent steps in the right direction..."

Ironically, the letter is being delivered at the same time as congressional leaders are reportedly contemplating dropping all three of these core provisions from the national energy legislation now under consideration by both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The full text of the letter and list of signers is available upon request from sustainable-energy-network@hotmail.com

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The Sustainable Energy Network is an informal network of 500+ organizations, businesses, and individuals founded in 2006 to promote rapidly expanded use of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies as alternatives to climate change, energy imports, and nuclear power.

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