Group wants clean energy pledges

By Perry Beeman

A national environmental group at a Des Moines event Friday called on presidential candidates to push for energy conservation, "green" alternative energy and a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.

Environment America, which has an Environment Iowa branch in Des Moines, said the next president must make clean energy a top priority. The group listed clean-energy priorities it plans to push in Iowa, site of next week's presidential caucuses, and the early primary states.

Iowans are embroiled in a fight over proposals for new coal plants in Marshalltown and Waterloo, developments critics say would add to one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Proponents say the plants would be more efficient than older ones, and provide the cheap, reliable power Iowans and other Americans demand.

"All of the candidates for president should pledge to make big, bold, clean-energy initiatives a centerpiece of their environmental and economic policies," said Melisa Stodieck, field organizer for Environment Iowa. "The next president must prioritize harnessing America's abundant clean energy resources and vast reserves of energy efficiency."

The group called on presidential candidates to support these goals and policies:

- Cut oil use by one-third before 2025 through energy-efficiency improvements.

- Provide at least 25 percent of all energy with wind, solar, biofuels or other renewable energy sources by 2025.

- Cut energy use by 10 percent before 2025 by using more-efficient appliances, buildings and homes.

- Commit $30 billion to new energy technologies over the next decade.

- Reject proposals for new nuclear plants, and relicensing of existing ones.

- Ban new coal-fired power plants.

- Make solar energy a centerpiece of energy plans.

- Change utility policies to reward efficiency programs and renewable energy.

- Set a national limit on carbon emissions.