Killing-off North Carolina’s State RPSs
By John Droz (via e-mail)
Friends:
This is not an April Fool’s email!
Please go here to read AWED’s latest Energy & Environmental Newsletter. (If that link is busy try this.) Our newsletter should be at MasterResource every third Monday.
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My focus at the moment is to try to repeal North Carolina’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) known as Senate Bill 3.
To fix SB3, some citizen-oriented legislators wrote the NC Affordable and Reliable Energy Act: H298 [and S365].
This is a long story (good NC citizens have been working on this for about a year and a half), but there is a very good chance that H298 will pass. If so, NC will lead the nation regarding this significant energy/economic/environmental issue. I’m filling you in on just a few details as:
1) You could help by emailing the Commerce Committee Chairman (Representative Jason Saine: Jason.Saine@ncleg.net) about why NC’s renewable mandate should be removed.
2) You could help by contacting NC legislators in support of H298, or writing a letter to the editor of a NC paper (e.g. here).
3) What has transpired here could be educational to other citizens advocating better energy policies, as much of what has happened in NC can be replicated elsewhere. (I’ll write up the whole story when it’s done.)
D-Day for the H298 Committee hearing is this Wednesday at 11 AM in Legislators Office Building #643, Raleigh, NC.
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I came up with a soundbite for us to focus on: “Net not Niche”. This is an essential difference between the competing positions:
1) RPS advocates complain that some renewable energy jobs may be lost, and that might be true — but that’s the niche perspective.
2) In contrast, we are looking at the Big Picture, and showing that H298 will result in a statewide NET jobs increase, and statewide NET economic gain, and statewide NET environmental benefits!
[It’s all explained in these two reports (here and here) where there are some thirty pages of detailed scientific research (citing 150± studies and reports!) showing why getting rid of NC’s RPS will be a significant NET benefit to North Carolina. Reading these will be helpful as the reasons given here generally apply elsewhere! Note in my report there is a whole page about RECs. I’ll write a separate article on that scam.]
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Please, carefully read the first six items in today’s newsletter, as they all deal with the RPS situation.
regards,
john droz, jr.
physicist & environmental advocate
