(Photo: 228 pinwheels were displayed to represent the number of wind turbines that could supply 20 percent of the electricity needs for a portion of San Diego County. Ed Joyce/KPBS .)
A California environmental group says we need to increase our use of renewable energy like wind and solar. They want Congress to pass a national standard to increase our use of clean energy. KPBS environmental reporter Ed Joyce has more.
Erik Magnuson with Environment California says a measure to establish a national renewable electricity standard will be debated in Congress this month. He says the measure would require utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Magnuson : I mean really the question is how much policy do we want to make to really encourage those ideas. Because you know for the last literally half a century we've been using taxpayer dollars to subsidize coal, oil and nuclear power. And so we're just asking folks to really give wind and solar energy a chance to compete on the same level as those fossil fuel technologies -- that have really caused the global warming problem and left us dependent on fossil fuels as well.
He says an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows the 20 percent standard would create more than 350,000 jobs, and the use of solar could save consumers $49 billion on electric bills.
But for many, converting a home or business to solar is too expensive.
Tom Philp is an energy consultant with Borrego Solar , a local company that installs and designs solar projects.
Philp : One of the big obstacles is the upfront capital costs of the systems of course. And there are ways to attack that. The manufacturers are working at reducing the costs of the systems. There are of course financial incentives from the state and federal governments. And so those are all helping.
Scott Anders directs the Energy Policy Initiatives Center at University of San Diego's School of Law . Anders says Europe has been more aggressive than the U.S. in using renewable energy.
Anders : If you look at wind for example, the European Union has about 48,000 megawatts of wind, the U.S. has about 11,000. So we're way behind in that case. So in terms of comparing our progress on renewable energy to that of Europe, we have a long way to go.
Environment California says a national renewable standard could also generate more rebates to spur solar conversions. California already has a law in place requiring utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
Ed Joyce, KPBS News.
