The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week released, “The Clean Energy-Environment Guide to Action” that lays out state-level policies that will promote clean energy.

The Guide details states' experiences with cost-effective clean energy policies and strategies that meet energy, environmental, and economic objectives. The guide covers energy efficiency, clean energy supply and clean distributed generation.

EPA estimates that if all states implemented cost-effective clean energy and environment policies, the expected growth in demand for electricity could be cut in half by 2025, and more demand could be met through cleaner energy supply. This translates into an annual savings of $70 billion in energy costs by 2025, while preventing the need for more than 300 power plants and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 80 million vehicles.

EPA issued the guide at the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) Energy Outlook Conference in Washington, D.C. "The guide to action will help us avoid recreating the wheel. We look forward to learning from the experiences of other states what works and which policies yield the biggest bang for the buck," said Sara Ward, director, Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency.

Pennsylvania and eleven other states are part of EPA’s Clean Energy-Environment State Partnership Program.

For more information, visit the Clean Energy-Environment Guide to Action webpage.

2/10/2006