Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is worried that a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) might unduly burden some states. In reality, every state has some form of clean energy that could be tapped to meet a federal RPS.
Senators. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Tom Udall, D-N.M recently introduced legislation to establish a
federal RPS that would require electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2025. This is one of
several Senate bills, and the House is also considering RPS legislation.
But Alaska's Murkowski expressed concern that states in the southeast may not be able to obtain enough wind, solar, and other clean energy to meet the mandate.
"I don't necessarily object to an RPS, but I want it to be a truly bipartisan provision that takes into account regional differences," Murkowski
said in a statement. "It must contain provisions that allow the southern states to participate without being penalized because they lack the same abundance of renewable energy as other parts of the country."
However, the legislation enables states to meet the standards through whatever resource they have available. According to the data from the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department, southern states
such as Georgia may not be the best for wind, there is plenty of sunshine for solar.
Not to be forgotten, the warm wet climate is
well suited to using biofuels and biomass for electricity production, especially in Florida. According to a DOE study, the U.S.
could produce 590 million wet tons of biomass each year for electricity production.
While Murkowski is ostensibly speaking out of concern for sister states, her true area of interest might be closer to her home. While Alaska isn't a great place for solar, it does have
"sufficient" resources for wind and "very good hydropower" according to the EERE. To warm buildings in oft-frigid Alaska, the state could also tap into underground heat through shallow geothermal heat pumps and deep geothermal reserves.
It is understandable why the senator of a state with an abundance of natural gas and petroleum reserves is resistant to a federal RPS. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin last month
outlined a plan for moving Alaska to 50 percent renewables by 2025> However, Palin would not mandate a shift to renewables; instead she outlined the local resources that could make it happen, with most of the cost paid by the local communities.
Many states that have already established RPS mandates would be less likely to raise opposition.
If a national RPS is passed, one of the officials that would lead the charge is likely to be is Jon Cannon, who
was recently nominated to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Previous attempts to establish a federal RPS have died on the vine due to resistance from southern Republican senators. Just as with the stimulus package, some states will not swallow federal renewable energy mandates easily. Considerable political negotiation may have to be done with DOE and EPA for clean energy production to match the new laws.
