ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall welcomed the president's "Presidential Memorandum," challenging federal agencies to nearly triple their renewable energy consumption to 20 percent by 2020. Udall, who has led the effort to set a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), requiring utilities to generate 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025, issued the following statement:
"The United States should lead the world in clean energy jobs, innovation and in efforts to fight global warming. A national RES is critical to get us there. Today, by challenging federal agencies -- together the nation's largest consumer of energy -- to lead by example, the president is taking a strong step in the right direction. I think we can do even more, and I welcome the president's action, which will help make the case for a strong national RES that would create hundreds of thousands of jobs, generate new home-grown sources of clean energy and revitalize our rural communities."
Udall has long advocated a "do it all, do it right" energy policy, and he emphasizes the need to produce traditional energy sources, such as oil and gas, as well as renewables, such as biofuel, solar and wind. On Oct. 29, Udall, along with his first cousin Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, introduced an RES bill, which experts have said could create almost 300,000 jobs. The two have advocated for RES legislation since 2002. They successfully built a coalition of support and passed a version of the bill as an amendment in the U.S. House in 2007. They have continued the fight in the U.S. Senate, introducing RES legislation every Congress since 2008.
