Democrats revive clean energy standard legislation

By Nico Portuondo | 11/19/2024 06:21 AM EST

The bill would require electricity providers to source 70 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2034.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.).

Rep. Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.) is sponsoring legislation that would mandate more green energy use. Frank Franklin/AP

A group of House Democrats is reviving legislation to require U.S. electricity providers to garner nearly three-quarters of their generation from renewable energy by the 2030s.

H.R. 10139, the “American Renewable Energy Act of 2024,” would require retail electricity providers to make renewables be 20 percent of their power generation in 2025, and slowly ramp up that percentage each year until getting to 70 percent by 2034.

The effort is being led in the House by Energy and Commerce Committee member Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), who has introduced similar legislation in past years as an aggressive step to confront and mitigate the growing impacts of climate change. A Senate version is expected this week.

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“It is beyond time the federal government step up and lead the fight to combat the intersectional and multifaceted issues of climate change,” Clarke said of a 2021 version of the bill.

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