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| (Courtesy Whitehouse.gov) |
Highlights: Since 2009, DOI has approved 29 onshore renewable energy projects: 16 solar projects, 5 wind farms, and 8 geothermal facilities – with total capacity of approximately 6,600 megawatts. Thanks in part to the Obama Administration’s investment in clean energy – the largest in American history – the United States has nearly doubled renewable energy generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources since 2008.
One year ago, the President put forward a comprehensive plan in the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future that outlined the Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy – a strategy aimed at reducing our reliance on foreign oil, saving families and businesses money at the pump, and positioning the United States as the global leader in clean energy.
Today, the President received a new progress report, showcasing the Administration’s historic achievements in each of these areas. The accomplishments in this report, which represent the efforts of six Federal agencies, underscore the Administration’s commitment over the past three years to promoting an all-hands-on-deck, all-of-the-above approach to American energy and building a more secure energy future.
Extract Concerning Renewable Energy
A. Positioning America as the Global Leader in Clean Energy
Doubling Clean Energy Generation: The Obama Administration has made the largest investment in clean energy in history and the United States has nearly doubled renewable energy generation since 2008. In fact, last year, according to industry experts, the United States reclaimed the title as the world’s leading investor in clean energy technologies, besting countries like China, India, and Germany.
Financing Deployment: Through loan programs, DOE has supported nearly 40 clean energy projects that are expected to employ more than 60,000 Americans, generate enough clean electricity to power nearly 3 million homes and displace nearly 300 million gallons of gasoline annually. The programs are supporting the world’s largest wind farm, the first new U.S. nuclear plant in three decades, and several of the largest solar photovoltaic generation facilities.
To support the continued manufacture, development, and deployment of clean energy technologies, the President’s FY 2013 Budget includes $5 billion in tax credits that will catalyze nearly $20 billion of total investment in manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies and create tens of thousands of new construction and manufacturing jobs. The FY 2013 Budget also proposes to extend the 1603 “payments in lieu of tax credits” program and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for electricity from renewable sources like wind, for which it is due to expire at the end of 2012.
Eliminating Wasteful Fossil Fuel Subsidies: We should not devote scarce resources to subsidizing the use of fossil fuels produced by some of the largest, most profitable companies in the world. The President has called for the elimination of $4 billion in inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
Permitting Clean Energy on America’s Public Lands: As directed by the President, the Department of the Interior is working to permit 10,000 megawatts of renewable generation capacity – enough to power 3 million homes – from new projects by the end of 2012. Since 2009, DOI has approved 29 onshore
renewable energy projects—about 6,600 megawatts—including: 16 solar projects, 5 wind farms, and 8 geothermal facilities. These projects include the first solar projects ever permitted on public lands. In mid-2012, DOI expects that the first solar project on public lands – 50 MW in Nevada – will be fully operational and delivering power to the grid. The Department continues its work on environmentally responsible development of utility-scale renewable energy projects and has prioritized 17 projects, representing another 6,600 megawatts, for review in 2012.
The Department is also making progress on establishing a foundation for renewable energy development on public lands in the future. DOI has launched several important landscape level planning efforts including the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that DOI is developing jointly with the Department of Energy. The Solar PEIS analyzes proposed solar energy development areas in six western States—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Department anticipates finalizing the Solar PEIS by the Fall of 2012.
Offshore, DOI is continuing to make progress in its “smart from the start” planning efforts to identify suitable areas for future wind energy development. Wind energy areas have been identified offshore Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with steps being taken to move toward holding the first competitive lease sales by the end of 2012. DOI is also proceeding with the permitting of a right-of-way for an offshore “backbone” transmission project that would be capable of transmitting up to 7,000 MW of offshore wind energy to the grid in the Mid-Atlantic States.
Setting a New Standard for Clean Energy in America: President Obama continues to believe that the best way to create a domestic market for clean energy, drive innovation, and create new energy jobs and industries is to establish a clear, ambitious, and long term policy goal. The centerpiece of the Administration’s strategy is a Clean Energy Standard, or “CES” – which would double the share of electricity from clean energy sources to 80 percent by 2035 from a wide variety of clean energy sources, including renewable energy sources like wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower; nuclear power; efficient natural gas; and coal with carbon capture utilization and sequestration. By creating a market here at home for innovative clean energy technologies, we will unleash the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs – and ensure that America leads the world in clean energy.
While a CES will ultimately require Congressional legislation, the FY 2013 Budget advances this goal by increasing funding for renewable energy research and development, spurring advances in fossil energy technologies that reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, supporting nuclear energy, and promoting the expansion and use of clean energy across the country, including in rural areas.
Doubling Clean Energy Generation: The Obama Administration has made the largest investment in clean energy in history and the United States has nearly doubled renewable energy generation since 2008. In fact, last year, according to industry experts, the United States reclaimed the title as the world’s leading investor in clean energy technologies, besting countries like China, India, and Germany.
Financing Deployment: Through loan programs, DOE has supported nearly 40 clean energy projects that are expected to employ more than 60,000 Americans, generate enough clean electricity to power nearly 3 million homes and displace nearly 300 million gallons of gasoline annually. The programs are supporting the world’s largest wind farm, the first new U.S. nuclear plant in three decades, and several of the largest solar photovoltaic generation facilities.
To support the continued manufacture, development, and deployment of clean energy technologies, the President’s FY 2013 Budget includes $5 billion in tax credits that will catalyze nearly $20 billion of total investment in manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies and create tens of thousands of new construction and manufacturing jobs. The FY 2013 Budget also proposes to extend the 1603 “payments in lieu of tax credits” program and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for electricity from renewable sources like wind, for which it is due to expire at the end of 2012.
Eliminating Wasteful Fossil Fuel Subsidies: We should not devote scarce resources to subsidizing the use of fossil fuels produced by some of the largest, most profitable companies in the world. The President has called for the elimination of $4 billion in inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
Permitting Clean Energy on America’s Public Lands: As directed by the President, the Department of the Interior is working to permit 10,000 megawatts of renewable generation capacity – enough to power 3 million homes – from new projects by the end of 2012. Since 2009, DOI has approved 29 onshore
renewable energy projects—about 6,600 megawatts—including: 16 solar projects, 5 wind farms, and 8 geothermal facilities. These projects include the first solar projects ever permitted on public lands. In mid-2012, DOI expects that the first solar project on public lands – 50 MW in Nevada – will be fully operational and delivering power to the grid. The Department continues its work on environmentally responsible development of utility-scale renewable energy projects and has prioritized 17 projects, representing another 6,600 megawatts, for review in 2012.
The Department is also making progress on establishing a foundation for renewable energy development on public lands in the future. DOI has launched several important landscape level planning efforts including the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that DOI is developing jointly with the Department of Energy. The Solar PEIS analyzes proposed solar energy development areas in six western States—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Department anticipates finalizing the Solar PEIS by the Fall of 2012.
Offshore, DOI is continuing to make progress in its “smart from the start” planning efforts to identify suitable areas for future wind energy development. Wind energy areas have been identified offshore Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with steps being taken to move toward holding the first competitive lease sales by the end of 2012. DOI is also proceeding with the permitting of a right-of-way for an offshore “backbone” transmission project that would be capable of transmitting up to 7,000 MW of offshore wind energy to the grid in the Mid-Atlantic States.
Setting a New Standard for Clean Energy in America: President Obama continues to believe that the best way to create a domestic market for clean energy, drive innovation, and create new energy jobs and industries is to establish a clear, ambitious, and long term policy goal. The centerpiece of the Administration’s strategy is a Clean Energy Standard, or “CES” – which would double the share of electricity from clean energy sources to 80 percent by 2035 from a wide variety of clean energy sources, including renewable energy sources like wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower; nuclear power; efficient natural gas; and coal with carbon capture utilization and sequestration. By creating a market here at home for innovative clean energy technologies, we will unleash the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs – and ensure that America leads the world in clean energy.
While a CES will ultimately require Congressional legislation, the FY 2013 Budget advances this goal by increasing funding for renewable energy research and development, spurring advances in fossil energy technologies that reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, supporting nuclear energy, and promoting the expansion and use of clean energy across the country, including in rural areas.