New Legislation Calls for 25% Renewables by 2025

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) today introduced legislation that sets a target of generating 25 percent of the nation’s energy from renewable sources while reducing energy waste by 15 percent by 2025.The second renewable energy bill introduced in the Senate this week, Sen. Markey’s legislation also follows the science by including strong carbon accounting measures for biomass resources and other important provisions aimed at improving bio-energy supplies.

By Jennifer Elks | Published 11 years ago | About a 1 minute read

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) today introduced legislation that sets a target of generating 25 percent of the nation’s energy from renewable sources while reducing energy waste by 15 percent by 2025.

The second renewable energy bill introduced in the Senate this week, Sen. Markey’s legislation also follows the science by including strong carbon accounting measures for biomass resources and other important provisions aimed at improving bio-energy supplies.

Franz Matzner, associate director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said: “This is the renewable energy legislation we need. It also is a wake-up call to those who want to deny science and stall progress: As a nation, it’s time to break our addiction to fossil fuels and invest in a cleaner, healthier future for our children.

“Coupled with President Obama’s climate change initiative, this legislation can takes us one step closer to meeting the moral obligation we have to our children to cut pollution, tackle climate change and develop more sources of clean, renewable energy — and the jobs that come with it.”

Earlier this week, 20 major U.S. brands including Starbucks, Unilever and Mars, Inc. added their voices to the hundreds of others calling for the White House to follow through on climate change preparedness efforts outlined in the Climate Action Plan announced by President Obama on June 25.