Environmental

NRDC Experts: Congress Should Support Clean Power Plan, Back Clean Energy


WASHINGTON—(ENEWSPF)–May 19, 2015 – Two experts from the Natural Resources Defense Council will testify today on Capitol Hill, calling on lawmakers to support the Clean Power Plan as well as to back legislation that promotes renewable sources of energy.

In separate testimony, they said the Environmental Protection Agency’s historic plan to curb carbon pollution from power plants will increase the reliability of the electric grid, and Congress should embrace clean sources of energy that create jobs and reject drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, which would threaten our oceans and worsen climate change.

 Franz Matzner, director of NRDC’s Beyond Oil Initiative, is testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s 10 a.m. hearing on energy supply legislation. He will cite the substantial growth of wind and solar energy, which already supports more than 3.4 million jobs, as deserving of more federal support through legislation establishing a renewable energy standard. 

Matzner also will warn that expanding offshore drilling could lead to spills while contradicting an international scientific consensus that most fossil fuels must remain undeveloped in order to reduce the threat of climate change.

On the other side of the Capitol, John Moore, senior attorney at NRDC and the Sustainable FERC Project, is testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power’s 10 a.m. hearing on “Discussion Draft Addressing Energy Reliability and Security.”

He will testify that the Clean Power Plan will deliver more affordable and cleaner sources of energy while maintaining a robust and reliable electric grid. Moore also will warn that some legislation pending in the House would impede innovation, hamstring the nation’s ability to solve evolving grid challenges and frustrate progress towards a cleaner and more affordable energy future.    

Matzner’s full testimony is here: http://docs.nrdc.org/legislation/files/leg_15051902a.pdf

Moore’s full testimony is here: http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF03/20150519/103477/HHRG-114-IF03-Wstate-MooreJ-20150519.pdf

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

Source: www.nrdc.org


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