New Report from ASES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 31 , 2007
CONTACT: Josh Dorner 202.675.2384
Sierra Club, Renewable Energy Experts Unveil Groundbreaking Report
Roadmap Details Plan for Tackling U.S. Global Warming Emissions by 2050 Using
Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Alone
(Washington, DC)- Today on Capitol Hill the Sierra Club joined with the American
Solar Energy Society (ASES), key Congressional chairmen and representatives,
and the nation’s preeminent climate scientist to unveil a new report authored
by ASES that lays out a plan for dramatically reducing the nation’s global
warming emissions. The roadmap--now the official Sierra Club global warming
strategy--details how an aggressive, yet achievable increase in the use of
energy efficiency and renewables alone can achieve a 60-80% reduction in U.S.
global warming emissions by 2050.
"This report moves the discussion from whether we can achieve the necessary
reductions in global warming pollution with energy efficiency and renewable
energy in this country to exactly how we should do it," said Carl Pope,
Sierra Club Executive Director. "Fully three-quarters of the reductions
in global warming pollution called for by Dr. Hansen and other scientists
can be realized using energy efficiency, wind, and solar--all technologies
we have today. The rest can be made with geothermal, biofuels, biomass, and
other renewables. We already have the best, cheapest, and cleanest solutions
at our disposal; now we just need the market and our political leaders to put
them to work."
Climate scientists agree that in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects
of global warming we need to halt the growth of our emissions immediately and
begin reducing them within the decade. The peer-reviewed report, "Tackling
Climate Change in the U.S.," is authored by scientists from the American
Solar Energy Society, many of whom are employed by our nation’s national
research laboratories. It identifies the renewable energy resources available
across the U.S. that can be used to transition away from the dirty, fossil
fuel-based energy economy of yesterday toward the clean energy technologies
that will fuel the economy of tomorrow. The report brings together detailed
analyses of various smart energy solutions, including energy efficiency solar
(both photovoltaic and concentrating), wind, biofuels, biomass, and geothermal.
"This roadmap gives us both a destination--60-80% emissions reductions by
2050--and a plan for how to get there using the best smart energy solutions
like efficiency and renewables," said Dave Hamilton, Director of the Sierra
Club’s Global Warming and Energy Program. "Dollar for dollar, these clean
energy solutions are the best choices for America. There is no reason to
invest tens of billions more in the outdated, environmentally and economically
irresponsible technologies of yesterday like coal and nuclear when we can have
efficient, clean energy at a reasonable cost. If we want to build a new energy
economy based on clean energy and new, good-paying manufacturing jobs, this is
the road to get there."
Key findings of the report:
- We can reduce carbon emissions by 1,100-1,200 million metric tons annually
by 2030 with aggressive deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy alone;
- 82% of necessary reductions in carbon emissions can come from wind, solar,
and increased energy efficiency. Biomass, biofuels, and geothermal could comprise the rest;
- This plan would achieve the U.S. share of reductions required to stabilize
atmospheric CO2 levels at 450-500 parts per million and limit additional average
temperature rise to 1°C above 2000 levels.
The report was unveiled at a Capitol Hill event featuring Rep. Henry Waxman,
Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee; Sen. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee; Rep. Christopher Shays; preeminent NASA
climate scientist James Hansen; Carl Pope; Dr. Chuck Kutcher, ASES member,
renewable energy researcher and editor of the report; and Brad Collins, ASES
executive director.
Contact Josh Dorner for hard copies of the report and reproductions of the key
maps and charts from the report, as featured at the news conference.
The full report can be downloaded at:
www.ases.org/climatechange/
Links for more information on
Smart Energy Solutions:
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A Dumb Energy Solution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 31, 2007
CONTACT:
John Buse, Center for Biological Diversity, (323) 533-4416
Bill Corcoran, Sierra Club, (310) 490-341
Energy commission RECOMMENDS Flooding Scenic Canyon for 24-Story Dam
Massive Development Would Mar Cleveland National Forest
LOS ANGELES— In a staff report released yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission recommended building a huge new dam that would drown an oak-filled canyon
area at the gateway to the San Mateo Wilderness. This latest version of the proposed
Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage project would submerge a beautiful landscape
and burden Cleveland National Forest with miles of power lines. In place of the
project originally proposed by the dam’s sponsors, Nevada Hydro Company and
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, the Commission advanced a staggeringly
expensive plan that fails to address the project’s destructive impacts.
“This report catalogs the numerous risks and hazards that have long marked the dam
project as a loser,” said Bill Corcoran of the Sierra Club. “Because of its enormous
costs both financially and environmentally, the Lake Elsinore dam is a bad deal for
ratepayers, residents, and visitors to Cleveland National Forest.”
The dam project would pump water from Lake Elsinore to a higher-elevation reservoir,
releasing the water to generate electricity during peak power demands. Nevada Hydro had originally proposed flooding Morrell Canyon, a favorite hiking destination in the Cleveland National Forest, to create the reservoir; this new plan would target nearby Decker Canyon instead, increasing the height of the dam by 60 feet to 240 feet—the height of a 24-story building. The dam’s concrete monolith would be visible for miles, and its reservoir would be surrounded by an eight-foot chain-link fence. Construction would increase wildfire risk, ruin scenic vistas with power lines strung along 170-foot metal towers, and put San Juan Capistrano at flood risk.
In its report, which will guide the five commissioners charged with approving or
rejecting the project later this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
staff highlighted many of the project’s serious flaws but did little to solve the problems.
“The environmental report for the Lake Elsinore dam presents a host of reasons
to deny the project, but few that justify its approval,” said John Buse, staff
attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The report discloses such a
troubling array of high costs and environmental risks that the project makes no
sense. We hope the commissioners will hear the public’s concerns and reject this
destructive dam.”
The report proposes burying miles of the project’s transmission lines to avoid
conflicts with hang glider users who enjoy soaring on the slopes above Lake Elsinore.
Even with the proposal to underground the transmission lines, concerns remain.
“The LEAPS project still puts our forest at risk even though it proposes some
undergrounding of power transmission lines to reduce the risk to hang gliders,”
say Mike Hilberath, Vice President of the Lake Elsinore Hang Gliding Association.
“It is interesting that FERC even considered having the entire transmission line
underground but pulled back due to prohibitive costs.”
On Thursday, February 22nd at 7:30 p.m., the Sierra Club is hosting a community
meeting in Mission Viejo to provide the latest update on stopping the LEAPS project.
There is still time and opportunity for citizens to become involved and make a
difference before the final decisions are made on the project. For more information
about the program, visit http://www.sierraclub.org/ca/socalforests/.
FERC’S Final EIS can be viewed at:
http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20070130-4000
FERC’S contact is Jim Fargo, (202) 502-6095, james.fargo@ferc.gov
The community meeting will be held at the Unitarian Church in Mission Viejo which
is located at 25801 Obrero Drive. From the 5 Freeway take the Alicia Parkway
northeast into Mission Viejo for about a mile. Turn left on Jeronimo Road and
continue on Jeronimo a few blocks to Obrero Drive. Turn left on to Obrero and
make an immediate right turn into the parking lot.
(Map)
Another Dumb Solution
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