Update: Clean Energy Window of Opportunity

With Congress having seemingly sealed the deal on enacting health care, space for a key priority is emerging on Capitol Hill. The policy window has opened for the introduction and passage of a clean energy and climate bill in the U.S. Senate, which has languished since the House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act last June. This effort should get a boost from a letter 22 senators sent in mid-March to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Click here to read the letter.

In the letter, the senators, including Michigan's Debbie Stabenow and other important swing-vote moderates who have been silent on the issue until now, told Reid that a bipartisan national energy and climate policy could create jobs and reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil, and would help American workers succeed in the global marketplace while giving businesses the certainty and predictability needed to spur investment.

According to recent figures from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth, clean energy is putting Michigan's manufacturing base back to work. Over the next two years, $3.7 billion will be directed toward investment in the solar field, $9.1 billion in advanced batteries, and $229 million in wind power production.

"Our lack of a comprehensive clean energy policy hurts job creation and increases regulatory uncertainty throughout the country," the senators wrote in the letter. "Businesses are waiting on clean signals from Congress before investing billions in energy, transportation, manufacturing, buildings and other sectors."

These senators are now on record as ready to work to pass legislation that will set this country on the course to the clean energy future we need to strengthen our economy and make our country more secure.

While Senator Stabenow has taken this bold step, Senator Carl Levin has not and needs more assurance that Michiganders want a clean energy future. Time is of the essence. Senator Levin is an integral part of passing a clean energy and climate bill. As the senior Senator from a state steeped in a tradition of innovation and manufacturing, which could benefit from a national energy policy ensuring stable energy costs, Michigan needs his leadership now.

To help us capitalize on this window of opportunity, call Senator Levin and ask him to step up and become a leader on clean energy legislation.