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Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Hillary Clinton's Plan to Create a Thriving Green Energy Sector in Oregon and Across America

April 05, 2008

Hillary has laid out an aggressive plan to address the twin challenges of global warming and our reliance on foreign oil. Setting ambitious targets, the plan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming, and cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from 2030 projected levels, more than 10 million barrels per day. Her plan focuses on improving energy efficiency, moving to clean, renewable sources of energy and developing green manufacturing. By transitioning from a carbon-based economy to a green, energy efficient economy, Hillary's plan will help unleash a wave of private sector innovation and create at least 5 million new green collar jobs over the next decade.

Oregon is already a leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency. As President, Hillary will be a strong partner with Oregon, investing $150 billion in research, development, and deployment of clean energy over the next decade, including $50 billion through a Strategic Energy Fund paid for with a windfall profits tax on large oil companies. Oregon will directly benefit from Hillary's Plan, with:

  • A permanent renewable production tax credit and new consumer tax incentives to support Oregon's cutting edge wind-power sector.

  • A Green Building Fund to help Oregon continue its first-in-the-nation status on certified green buildings per capita.

  • A Made Green in America Fund that would provide Oregon with at least $6.5 million per year to invest in clean energy technology manufacturing.

  • Green transportation investments to help support light rail projects like the MAX in Portland.

Hillary's plan includes:

25% Renewable Electricity by 2025

Oregon is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country for wind power. According to the American Wind Energy Association, Oregon added nearly 500 megawatts of wind power capacity in 2007. Oregon now ranks fourth in the country in terms of wind generation as a percentage of electricity generation. Yet while states like Oregon lead, the federal government lags behind. Hillary will restore leadership by establishing a national target of producing 25% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025. In addition, Hillary will:

  • Encourage investment in wind, solar and other renewable energy production by making permanent the 1.9 cent per kilowatt-hour tax credit for producing electricity from renewable sources;

  • Provide tax incentives for families and businesses to install small-scale renewable energy such as rooftop solar panels; and

  • Establish national "net metering" standards to ensure that families and businesses who install solar panels or other renewable energy resources can sell power back to the grid on fair terms.

Greening Buildings and Improving Energy Efficiency

Oregon is a leader in green buildings and energy efficiency; its per capita carbon footprint is among the five lowest nationwide, and Oregon has more certified green buildings per capita than any other state. As President, Hillary will provide the resources and tools to help Oregon accelerate this progress by:

  • Creating a Green Building Fund. Through the fund, the federal government would allocate $1 billion annually to states to make grants or low-interest loans to improve energy efficiency in public buildings, such as schools, police stations, firehouses and offices. The GBF will create more than 100,000 new "green collar" jobs. To be eligible for funding, projects would need to meet tough energy efficiency standards, such as the EPA Energy Star standard for buildings. The cost of this program would be split between the federal government and states and localities, and would provide $15 million annually to Oregon to be used in successful programs such as Portland's "City Energy Challenge," which has reduced the city's energy bill by $11 million since 1991, or the Energy Trust of Oregon, which through 2006 had implemented energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in buildings to save and generate electricity to power 109,000 homes and enough natural gas to heat 9,000 homes. The program has also removed over 2 billion pounds of CO2 from our atmosphere.

  • Modernizing 20 Million Low-Income Homes to Improve Energy Efficiency. On average, energy bills account for about 14% of a low-income family's gross income, and for many they account for 20% or more. Economists estimate that more than 80% of energy expenses leave low-income communities, and thus do not generate additional economic activity inside those communities. By weatherizing homes, we can reduce heating bills by 31% and overall energy bills by $358 per year, savings that are significant for many low-income families. Hillary will weatherize 20 million low-income homes over 8 years, creating good jobs that cannot be outsourced. This commitment would extend the weatherization program to more than 200,000 families in Oregon over the next 8 years.

Greening Our Transportation System

Portland's public transportation system is a comprehensive and award-winning system that has increased ridership by 65% since 1990. Hillary's agenda to green our transportation infrastructure will help support Oregon's public transit system. These steps will be combined with her aggressive proposals to improve vehicle fuel economy to reduce oil consumption, save consumers money and reduce global warming pollution. As President, Hillary will:

  • Invest an additional $1 billion in intercity passenger rail systems. States like Oregon have been left to pursue light rail projects, like the MAX in Portland, with only modest federal support. Hillary believes that greater federal involvement is needed to maximize the potential of this transportation mode. She will increase federal investment in light rail by $1 billion over 5 years in order to help finance capital projects. These investments are in addition to the federal commitment to Amtrak.

  • Increase Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards to 55 Miles Per Gallon: Hillary would raise fleet-wide fuel economy standards from the current level of 25 miles per gallon (mpg) to 40 mpg in 2020 and 55 mpg in 2030. By 2030, these tough CAFE standards will save consumers more than $180 billion per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 730 million metric tons.

  • Accelerate the Production of "Plug-In" Hybrid Electric Vehicles: A Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid gas-electric vehicle with a more powerful battery that can be plugged into any regular outlet. It can be filled up at the gas station, and it can be "filled up" at home by plugging it into a standard outlet. Half the cars on America's roads are driven 25 miles a day or less, so a plug-in with a 25-mile range battery could eliminate gasoline use in the daily commute of tens of millions of Americans. PHEVs offer the promise of achieving more than 100 miles per gallon of gasoline consumed; and a flex-fuel PHEV running on E85 can potentially get 500 miles per gallon of gasoline. In addition, new technology is making it possible to retrofit existing hybrid vehicles in less than two hours, with no modifications to the existing vehicle architecture other than connection to the existing battery poles and drilling a small hole in the bumper. Experts estimate this technology could result in up to 70% oil savings and 60% emission reductions. Hillary would invest in research and stimulate demand for the first commercial PHEVs by:

    • Investing $2 billion in research and development to reduce the cost and increase the longevity and durability of batteries;
    • Offering consumers tax credits of up to $10,000 for purchasing a plug-in hybrid or retrofitting an existing hybrid to improve fuel efficiency; and
    • Adding 100,000 PHEVs to the federal fleet by 2015.

  • Put 2,000 "Plug-In" Hybrid School Buses on the Road: Fourteen communities around the country have invested in a new type of school bus - a plug-in hybrid bus - that gets as much as twice the mileage as regular school buses while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by one-third and nitrogen emissions by half. Hybrid school buses use electric power, which is significantly cleaner than diesel fuel. These buses look the same as regular school buses, but are powered by large battery packs. They recover energy as they brake and charge the batteries while the bus is slowing down, a system that is ideal for buses because of their frequent stops. They are charged overnight and between shifts during the day, a process that can be easily managed through the city lots in which school buses are parked each evening. In fact, about one-third of communities already have the infrastructure to plug in school buses, because they rely upon plug-in block heaters to keep the engines warm in the winter. Today, plug-in hybrid buses costs $100,000 more than regular buses, but at higher production volumes, the premium will drop to $40,000 - an amount that is more than made up for through reduced fuel costs over the 15 year lifetime of the bus. As president, Hillary will split the added costs with school districts for the first 2,000 plug-in hybrid buses. This investment will lower the cost for school districts that want to be pioneers.

Creating Green Domestic Manufacturing Jobs

Hillary believes that we cannot remain a great country with a strong economy without a strong, vibrant manufacturing sector. But the failure of the Bush Administration to lead on clean energy has enabled other countries to move ahead in clean energy development and manufacturing. To help catalyze investment in clean energy research and manufacturing and restore U.S. leadership, Hillary will establish:

  • A "Made Green In America" Fund:Hillary will invest $500 million annually in a "Made Green in America" program to encourage the creation of high-wage jobs in the growing clean energy manufacturing technologies. The Bush Administration's failure to lead on global warming and clean energy has enabled other countries to move ahead. For example, the United States designed the solar cell, but has dropped from third to fifth place in terms of global manufacturing since just 2005. Hillary's proposal would help reverse this clean energy offshoring trend by providing assistance to domestic facilities that manufactures qualifying clean energy technologies, such as wind, solar or carbon capture and storage, or the components of such technologies. Companies that own these domestic facilities would be eligible to receive awards of up to 30 percent of the costs of engineering, retooling or construction of equipment manufacture qualifying clean energy technologies. Oregon would receive $6.5 million per year under this new program to invest in clean energy technology manufacturing.

  • A Green-Manufacturing Extension Partnership (G-MEP): The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a highly effective program that provides technical and business assistance to small and medium-sized manufacturers to help them improve productivity and create and grow the number of good-paying jobs in this country. In Oregon, there are 6,000 manufacturing firms that employ 200,000 people at jobs that provide an average salary that is about 50% higher than the average worker. [Oregon Manufacturing Workforce Strategy, Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership] Hillary has already called for doubling the MEP to support a more vibrant 21st century manufacturing sector. As President, Hillary will create a new G-MEP program as part of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership that will focus on green energy. This new initiative will provide a broad range of tools and technical assistance, and serve as a repository of shared best practices by being linked to G-MEP centers all around the country, for small and medium sized manufacturers who are working to create sustainable energy sources.

Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Hillary Clinton's Plan to Create a Thriving Green Energy Sector in Oregon and Across America Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/315769

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