June 10, 2010

Senator Scott Brown
United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC

Dear Senator Brown,

I am writing on behalf of the New England Clean Energy Council to urge you to follow through on your commitment to clean energy, as outlined in your op-ed today in the Cape Cod Times. In light of your vote in favor of the Murkowski Amendment, re-asserting Congress’ authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, we hope you will aggressively support a process to do just that - through comprehensive climate and energy legislation that places a price on carbon, a cap on emissions, and positions clean energy to propel our 21st century economy and stimulate widespread job creation.

Based on your op-ed, we find many areas of agreement. We agree that Congress should set the nation’s long-term policy on climate and energy usage. We also agree that EPA’s enforcement of GHG reductions is a blunt instrument that fails to balance GHG reductions with the comprehensive approaches needed to incentivize private sector investments that will grow the clean energy industry. Finally, we agree that the current system fails to create the capital needed to incentivize investments in energy efficiency and renewables.

However, we have a fundamental concern that legislation may stall in Congress, leaving private sector investors (who have been on the sidelines since the recession) with a high level of uncertainly about clean energy policy and future investments. This uncertainty, due to a failure to act by either Congress or the EPA, leaves our country at a competitive disadvantage.

We fear that investors will interpret today’s effort to strip EPA enforcement as a vote to defer climate legislation indefinitely, which in turn will drive their investments to other markets around the world that have more secure long-term pricing signals.

As you said in your op-ed, “What is clear is that we need to tap the entrepreneurial spirit of America to address these significant issues. Massachusetts is home to some of the world's top technology leaders, companies and institutions...” As leaders of those companies and institutions, we believe that unleashing that talent – and enabling fair competition with fossil fuels – requires a level playing field for clean energy. Right now that playing field is most assuredly not level. U.S. subsidies to fossil fuels—a mature, developed industry that has enjoyed government support for many years—totaled approximately $72 billion between 2002 and 2008, representing a direct cost to taxpayers. Moreover, the price of fossil fuels fails to include external, societal costs such as the
health, environmental and security impacts of our reliance on oil and other fossil fuels.

We desperately need a price on carbon and a cap on emissions to level the playing field and allow clean energy to flourish. Rather than “breaking the back of our economy,” such legislation will begin the virtuous cycle of economic growth, job creation and increased investment.

You are in a unique position in this Congress. As a high-profile Senator from a state renowned for innovation and technology, others look to you for leadership. We urge you to support comprehensive climate and energy legislation that will provide long-term market certainty and create a level playing field for clean energy.

Sincerely,