On Saturday, the U.S. Congress passed a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) that says incineration of municipal solid waste is NOT a source of renewable electricity.
Many of you took action last week to prevent incinerators from qualifying as a "renewable" source of energy in the federal energy bill (HR 3221). On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill that includes a 15% by 2020 Renewable Electricity Standard. Thanks to your efforts, the Renewable Electricity Standard specifically excludes the incineration of municipal solid waste, recyclable postconsumer waste paper, painted, treated and pressurized wood, and wood contaminated with plastics or metals from qualifying as a renewable source of electricity. This is an important development for the anti-incinerator and zero waste movements.
As this bill moves to the Senate in September, it is critical that we continue to speak out to let decision-makers in Washington D.C. know that incineration and other false solutions are NOT sources of renewable energy! We will keep you informed as this bill moves forward.
It is important to note that the Renewable Electricity Standard in its current form DOES falsely qualify landfill gases and the gasification of animal waste as sources of renewable energy. I encourage others to do their own analysis of the bill at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3221 (The Renewable Electricity Standard is amendment 748).
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