EPA Chief Outlines Policies for Renewable Energy
- 10 years ago
Last week, in a speech before a conference sponsored by the American Council on Renewable Energy, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency laid out an expansive overview of intergovernmental cooperation. EPA head Gina McCarthy said the agency’s goal is to support the rapid pace of renewable energy innovation by establishing new regulations that work with new initiatives. To do so, the EPA is working more closely with the Department of Energy.
The bottom line for supporting renewable energy, says McCarthy, is the bottom line. “It’s not just the right thing to do, but it’s the economically sustainable thing to do.” The EPA chief emphasized the importance of renewable energy to the U.S. economy, and the role of the federal, state, and local governments in incentivizing the sector’s expansion. She noted the 100,000 jobs created by renewable energy projects on public lands undertaken by the Department of the Interior and the 39 states that now operate utility-scale wind energy projects. McCarthy defined the role of the EPA as a supporting one in the rapidly changing renewable energy sector. States and cities are accepted as the main incubators of innovation, and the EPA’s mission is to listen and work closely with them. Such a description might sound positively visionary except that it describes a renewable energy future that is already in action, right now, across the country.
I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.
The bottom line for supporting renewable energy, says McCarthy, is the bottom line. “It’s not just the right thing to do, but it’s the economically sustainable thing to do.” The EPA chief emphasized the importance of renewable energy to the U.S. economy, and the role of the federal, state, and local governments in incentivizing the sector’s expansion. She noted the 100,000 jobs created by renewable energy projects on public lands undertaken by the Department of the Interior and the 39 states that now operate utility-scale wind energy projects. McCarthy defined the role of the EPA as a supporting one in the rapidly changing renewable energy sector. States and cities are accepted as the main incubators of innovation, and the EPA’s mission is to listen and work closely with them. Such a description might sound positively visionary except that it describes a renewable energy future that is already in action, right now, across the country.
I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.