Require 10 percent renewable energy by 2012

Climate bill moves on renewable energy goals

Updated: Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | By Catharine Richert

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama made big promises about expanding the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal.
 
Specifically, he wanted to require that, by 2012, 10 percent of electricity came from renewable fuels.
 
In his New Energy for America campaign plan, Obama pledged to "establish a 10 percent federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to require that 10 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. is derived from clean, sustainable energy sources, like solar, wind and geothermal by 2012."
 
He's making progress.
 
Buried in the cap-and-trade bill passed by the House on June 26, 2009, is a provision that would require some utility companies to produce at least 6 percent of their electricity from renewable resources and electricity savings by 2012. That's 4 percent less than Obama initially envisioned. And the bill indicates the administration has compromised by allowing energy savings to count toward that goal.
 
By 2020, the requirement would be 20 percent, according to a summary of the bill.

So far, it looks like Obama could be a few percentage points shy of his original goal, but the debate over the cap-and-trade bill is far from over; the Senate has yet to tackle climate change legislation, so the language could still change. For now we rate this one In the Works.

Sources: President Barack Obama, New Energy for America , accessed Aug. 18, 2009 House Energy and Commerce Committee summary of cap-and-trade bill, accessed Aug. 18, 2009