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In its last session, the Minnesota legislature passed renewable electricity standards with Governor Pawlenty's blessing. Now the action has shifted to the federal level. Monique Sullivan, an organizer for USPIRG, thanks Walz for a recent vote:
I would like to thank Rep. Tim Walz for voting in favor an amendment to establish a national Renewable Electricity Standard. The amendment was passed as part of The New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 3221).
The passage of the RES, along with the package of legislation included in H.R. 3221, will make significant steps toward a cleaner and more secure energy future for the United States.
The RES requires that utilities generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy such as wind, solar or biomass or through energy efficiency savings, by 2020.
We thank Walz for joining a broad coalition of labor unions, farm groups and clean energy developers to pass this bipartisan legislation.
Representatives Oberstar and Peterson co-sponsored the bill. In the roll call vote, Third District Republican Jim Ramstad voted with the DFLers in Minnesota's delegation, while Representatives Michele Bachmann and John Kline voted against it. Both Republican state legislators vying for the GOP endorsement to run against Walz supported the state RES.
Update, 11:46 p.m.: The Winona Daily News also received this letter.
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