HM 1591

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to pass comprehensive clean energy legislation.
4
5	WHEREAS, the United States currently spends approximately
6	$1 billion each day to import oil, and the United States
7	Department of Energy estimates that without comprehensive clean
8	energy legislation, the nation's reliance on foreign oil could
9	cost $8.5 trillion by 2030, and
10	WHEREAS, under the current energy policy of the United
11	States, wealth is being transferred to nations that are rich
12	with oil, many of which are politically unstable or unfriendly
13	to the United States, and
14	WHEREAS, the generation of electricity through the use of
15	renewable energy presents opportunities to promote energy self-
16	sufficiency, create jobs and economic benefits, preserve
17	natural resources, and improve the environment, and
18	WHEREAS, over the past two decades, in the absence of
19	comprehensive federal clean energy legislation, many states have
20	been the true "laboratories of democracy" by independently
21	advancing clean energy policies, and
22	WHEREAS, many states have adopted renewable energy
23	standards and goals that require a significant percentage of a
24	state's electricity to be generated from non-fossil fuel
25	renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, wave, hydropower,
26	biomass, and biofuels, which have led to significant job growth
27	in the clean energy sector of the national economy, and
28	WHEREAS, the Pew Charitable Trusts reports that employment
29	in the field of clean energy has risen by nearly 250 percent
30	over the last decade at a rate approximately 10 percent faster
31	than the rest of the job market, and
32	WHEREAS, thousands of businesses have joined together in
33	calling for comprehensive federal clean energy legislation,
34	including the United States Climate Action Group and the Clean
35	Economy Network, and
36	WHEREAS, the United States Energy Information
37	Administration predicts the creation of up to 2 million new jobs
38	as a result of comprehensive clean energy legislation, and
39	WHEREAS, there is significant global competition for clean
40	energy development, and without comprehensive clean energy
41	legislation, such competition could weaken the economy and
42	threaten clean energy innovation in the United States, and
43	WHEREAS, without congressional action, the United States
44	Environmental Protection Agency intends to regulate greenhouse
45	gas emissions through administrative rules, and
46	WHEREAS, on June 26, 2009, the United States House of
47	Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security
48	Act on a bipartisan vote, and bipartisan members of the United
49	States Senate are currently considering and drafting the Clean
50	Energy Jobs and American Power Act, and
51	WHEREAS, the United States Congress has the historic
52	opportunity to enact comprehensive clean energy legislation that
53	will strengthen our national security, increase the number of
54	clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and advance clean energy
55	innovation in the United States, NOW, THEREFORE,
56
57	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
58
59	That the United States Congress is urged to pass
60	comprehensive clean energy legislation to create a unified
61	framework that reduces greenhouse gas emissions; protects low-
62	income and moderate-income citizens from increased energy costs;
63	invests substantially in energy efficiency; supports alternative
64	sources of energy, including, but not limited to, wind, solar,
65	wave, hydroelectricity, biofuels, advanced nuclear energy
66	research, and clean coal technologies; provides strong
67	protections for environmentally sensitive offshore and onshore
68	oil and gas exploration and makes all new exploration subject to
69	the approval of affected states; acknowledges the carbon-
70	intensive nature of the United States economy and includes
71	emissions offsets that protect energy consumers; does not
72	preempt state legislative efforts to control carbon emissions;
73	and advances clean energy innovations.
74	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
75	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
76	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
77	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
78	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.