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Calling Upon U. S. Senators Specter and Santorum to support a Federal Energy Bill that is Both Economically and Environmentally Responsible and to Oppose Any Bill not Meeting this Standard, and Urging Philadelphia Community Groups and Businesses to Lead Pennsylvania and the Nation Toward Clean, Responsible, Sustainable Energy by Joining a Coalition for a New Energy Future.
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WHEREAS, Our country needs a New Energy Future of clean, efficient, reliable energy, free from unstable sources of foreign oil and the danger of global climate deterioration and pollution; and
WHEREAS, In 2003, the National League of Cities signed onto a coalition urging senators across the country to oppose H.R. 6, an energy bill similar to the one currently under consideration in the House of Representatives, that would have provided liability immunity to the producers of gasoline with the fuel additive MTBE, which would have caused a $29 billion clean-up to be paid for by local taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, Taxpayers in Pennsylvania paid more than $50 million to clean up abandoned toxic waste in 2004, up 315 percent from 1995; and
WHEREAS, Our nation currently relies on fossil fuels and nuclear power for 97 percent of our electricity needs, moving toward 20% production dependence on renewable resources by 2020 and shifting proposed federal subsidies away from nuclear and fossil fuels toward renewable energy and energy efficiency would stimulate the economy both here in Pennsylvania and across the nation, creating 215,308 net jobs nationally, increasing wages by $6.8 billion, increasing annual GDP by $5.8 billion, and saving all consumers $11 billion on natural gas bills and $16.2 billion on electricity bills; and
WHEREAS, With the City of Philadelphia already leading the way, the State of Pennsylvania, by installing solar panels on the rooftop equivalent of 280 square miles—or slightly more than ½ of 1 percent—of its land mass can generate an average of 14,470 megawatts of electricity each day, equivalent to the total amount of electricity consumed in the state daily; and
WHEREAS, The August 14th blackout—which affected millions of Americans across the country—served as an expensive and severe reminder that our current electricity system is unreliable, and in its report on the August 2003 blackout, the joint U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force identified enactment of mandatory electricity reliability standards as a simple, crucial step towards preventing blackouts; and
WHEREAS, If Pennsylvania displaced 40 percent of its dirty fossil fuel power with wind and solar energy and increased its energy efficiency, the state could avoid an estimated 900 early deaths, 15,360 asthma attacks and 127,200 lost work-days each year; and
WHEREAS, In Pennsylvania, raising fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon would save consumers up to $3.4 billion annually at the gas pump and conserve almost two billion gallons of oil by 2020. The efficiency of our cars and trucks is currently at a twenty-year low despite the fact that simple, inexpensive increases in vehicle efficiency would save the country more in oil than it currently imports from the Persian Gulf and than exists in the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, combined; and
WHEREAS, In recent years Pennsylvania has experienced a sharp increase in natural gas and electricity prices, with the State expending $50 million this year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and still many Philadelphians have been unable to heat their homes this winter. The fastest and cheapest way to reduce energy prices is to increase the energy efficiency of businesses, homes and appliances; and
WHEREAS, A responsible federal energy bill must include a clean energy standard, measures to reduce oil consumption, support of the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, energy efficiency measures for businesses, homes and appliances to reduce natural gas and electricity prices, and mandatory electricity reliability standards to prevent blackouts; and
WHEREAS, A coalition of Philadelphia environmental and consumer advocates, religious organizations, taxpayer advocates, businesses, and labor unions for a new energy future has formed to work together toward realizing an economically and environmentally sound energy vision and to impress upon Senators Specter and Santorum the imperative call of our citizens not to accept any energy bill which moves us away from a clean, responsible, renewable energy policy; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby call upon U.S. Senators Specter and Santorum to support a federal energy bill that is both economically and environmentally responsible and to oppose any bill not meeting this standard, and urging Philadelphia community groups and businesses to lead Pennsylvania and the nation toward clean, responsible, sustainable energy by joining a coalition for a new energy future.
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