Wissenschaft Forschung Solaranlage

Jan Jarrett, president and CEO of Citizens for Pennsylvania?s Future (PennFuture), today thanked U.S. Senator Arlen Specter for his leadership on green jobs and clean energy, praising his vote in committee for S.1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

?Senator Specter?s vote is more than just one Senator?s vote,? said Jarrett. ?His vote sends a strong signal to his colleagues about the tremendous importance of tackling global warming and building our new green economy. We are grateful for Senator Specter?s support and leadership.?

PennFuture has been a leader on global warming since 2002. This year, Jarrett was appointed by Governor Ed Rendell to the state?s Climate Action Advisory Committee to help design a plan to reduce Pennsylvania?s contribution of heat-trapping gases, now the third highest in the nation, more than 101 countries combined.

In 2004, PennFuture led the fight to enact the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS), which required increasing percentages of Pennsylvania?s electricity to come from renewable and advanced energy sources. This legislation has already led to the direct creation of more than 3,000 Pennsylvania jobs in the wind and solar fields. Two of the world?s largest wind companies, Gamesa and Iberdrola, opened their U.S. headquarters here in Pennsylvania as a direct result of the passage of the AEPS. In less than ten years, Pennsylvania has become home to 12 operating wind farms, with three more under construction and more than a dozen more proposed.

?Both Senators Specter and Casey have the great record of Pennsylvania?s green job growth to rely on as they work for passage of global warming legislation,? continued Jarrett. ?Any bill ultimately passed by the Senate should include a federal Renewable Energy Standard and an Energy Efficiency Standard, just like the laws in Pennsylvania. A recent report by McKinsey & Co. shows that making the U.S. more energy efficient could save consumers $1.2 trillion by 2020 and could create at least 600,000 sustainable jobs in 12 years.

?Senator Specter?s leadership is indispensable to making sure that strong federal global warming legislation is passed, working to improve both our economy and our environment,? continued Jan. ?We are very grateful for his leadership.?

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization, founded in 1998. Working from the premise that ?Every environmental victory grows the economy,? PennFuture successfully advocated for landmark environmental legislation, including passage of the largest ever environmental funding bond, passage of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, funding for green energy and energy efficiency, adoption of the Clean Vehicles Program, passage of the law requiring a statewide climate change action plan, and adoption of a regulation that protects babies from mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. PennFuture has staff throughout the state, in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, West Chester, Doylestown, and Wilkes-Barre. The Philadelphia Inquirer called PennFuture the ?state?s leading environmental advocacy organization.?