Pete Dronkers, an advocate with Environment Nevada, said: “The transition to clean energy is a marathon, and we’ve just laced up our sneakers. It’s time to take back control of our energy future. By reducing the use of coal and harnessing the power of the wind and the sun, we can cut pollution and transition to clean energy sources that don’t harm the environment, never run out, and create new, local jobs.”
The report said that, for decades, America’s use of fossil fuels – and the global warming pollution that results – has been on the rise nationally and in states across the country. The science shows that the US must cut its global warming pollution by 35% by 2020 to be able to stop the effects of global warming.
According to the findings of the report, Nevada’s carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption declined by 12% between 2004 and 2007, reversing a decades-long trend toward increasing pollution. In Nevada, carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation declined by 34% from 2004 to 2007. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal for electricity dropped by 57% over this period. This was due to the closure of 1500MW Mojave generating station near Laughlin – a coal fired power plant decommissioned in 2005.
Nationally, emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel consumption increased by 19% between 1990 and 2007. Power plants and vehicles were responsible for the lion’s share of the increase.
In total, more than one-third of the states succeeded in cutting pollution from 2004 to 2007 – before the onset of the economic recession. The initial success of these states shows that moving to clean energy can have an immediate impact on overall emissions.
The Senate is in the process of considering the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733), sponsored by Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. In addition, EPA has proposed a rule to require coal plants and other smokestack industries to use available technology to cut their global warming pollution when new facilities are constructed or existing facilities are modified.
