The Energy Recovery Council today sent a a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton expressing its views on the draft American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.  In the letter, ERC identifies four specific items that must be addresssed to appropriately treat waste-to-energy as a climate-friendly, renewable energy source in federal legislation.

Specifically, ERC President Ted Michaels stated that " while waste-to-energy has been recognized around the world as an important tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and as a renewable source of electricity, the draft legislation unfortunately fails to recognize its benefits."  He further added that "ERC believes that the legislation could be strengthened if it recognized and capitalized on the net greenhouse gas reductions and renewable energy provided by waste-to-energy."

ERC is advocating the following changes to the draft legislation:  1) do not include waste-to-energy under a greenhouse gas cap; 2) identify waste-to-energy as an eligible greenhouse gas offset; 3) include waste-to-energy as a eligible renewable source in any renewable energy standard; and 4) continue waste-to-energy's participation in the federal purchasing program of federal agencies.