Bush Administration Exploits Energy Issue to Assault Environment
   Clean choices available to resolve energy crunch in California, nation

                               March 22, 2001



     The Union of Concerned Scientists today charged the Bush
     administration with using energy needs as a pretext for assaulting
     the environment and proposing actions that would actually make our
     energy problems worse. To wit:

        * Two days before taking office, Bush said that environmental
          laws may be preventing California power plants from operating
          at full capacity. Generators subsequently declared Bush
          wrong.

        * Ten days into his term, the president used California power
          shortages to justify oil drilling in the Arctic National
          Wildlife. Oil accounts for only one percent of California
          electricity and less than three percent of national
          electricity generation.

        * On day 39, Bush proposed relaxing regulations to speed
          construction of new power plants.

        * On day 40, the administration proposed cutting the Department
          of Energy's overall budget by $700 million. There are
          indications that DOE's energy efficiency and renewable energy
          research and development budget could suffer a
          disproportionate share of the cut. A day earlier the
          president said he supported renewables and efficiency.

        * On day 53, he broke his campaign pledge to reduce carbon
          dioxide emissions at power plants.

     Earlier this week administration officials were wrong again when
     they said there are no short-term fixes for energy problems.
     "Conserving energy by investing in energy efficiency improvements
     is by far the fastest, least expensive way to balance energy
     demand and supply needs," said Alan Nogee, Director of UCS's Clean
     Energy Program. "President Bush's proposals would prolong our
     dependence on coal and oil, which will only cost us more in the
     long run by increasing the cost of responding to global warming."

     "We need to develop and deploy efficiency and renewable energy
     technologies that will conserve and reduce our dependence on
     fossil fuels," said Ron Sundergill, UCS's Washington
     Representative for Energy. "These programs need federal funding,
     not lip service."

     Energy efficiency and renewable energy could immediately begin to
     stem the energy crunch. For example:

        * If the 11.5 million households in California replaced 4
          (average 100 watt) incandescent light bulbs with 4
          (equivalent 27 watt) compact fluorescent light bulbs, burning
          on average 5 hours per day, we would save enough energy to
          shut down four 350 Megawatt power plants.

        * The California Energy Commission is providing low-interest
          loans to convert traffic lights to more energy efficient
          modules that cut electricity use by 80 to 90 percent. The
          change is expected to save Sacramento County $67,000 a year
          in electricity costs.

        * A bill currently under consideration in California would
          increase funding for energy efficiency by more than $1
          billion.

        * America has abundant renewable energy resources. With today's
          technology, wind energy alone could economically provide 20
          percent of America's electricity. A typical wind farm
          generates electricity within six months of groundbreaking for
          the project.

        * The current cost for wind projects with up-to-date technology
          is 4 to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) at good sites.
          Electricity from large new wind farms in the western United
          States will cost less than 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

        * By comparison, recent hikes in natural gas prices have driven
          fuel costs alone for older gas-fired power plants past 5
          cents per kWh produced, and spot market shortages have led to
          much higher prices -- $10 per kWh and up.

        * Leading states have made commitments that will increase the
          total use of wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power by
          8,550 megawatts. That's enough electricity to power 5.6
          million homes, reducing as much carbon dioxide - the main
          greenhouse gas causing global warming - as planting 1.2
          billion trees or taking four million cars off the road.

        * Sales of residential wind turbines in California are already
          skyrocketing as consumers seek refuge from high energy bills.
          Sales for one company are seven times greater for the month
          of January 2001 than they were for all of 2000.

     Meanwhile, utility spending on energy efficiency programs
     nationally fell 45 percent between 1993 and 1998. While utility
     conservation budgets were being slashed, peak summer loads grew by
     56,000 MW. In several regions, capacity reserve margins are thin.
     Half of the growth in peak loads could have been avoided by
     increasing energy efficiency spending.

     Renewable energy generation nationally fell from 66 billion kWh in
     1993 to 49 billion kWh in 1998, as utilities cut near-term costs
     to prepare for deregulation. Congress should extend and expand
     renewable energy tax credits and require energy companies to
     provide an increasing percentage of their supplies from clean
     renewable energy sources.



     UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
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