I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5529 

To direct the President to seek to establish an international renewable energy 

agency to expand the availability and generating capacity of renewable 

energy to markets around the world in order to increase economic opportunity, drive technological innovation, enhance regional and global security, raise living standards, and reduce global warming pollution. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 4, 2008 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. 

DOGGETT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. 

TERRY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

BOSWELL, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, and Mr. HODES) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President to seek to establish an international 

renewable energy agency to expand the availability and 

generating capacity of renewable energy to markets 

around the world in order to increase economic opportunity, drive technological innovation, enhance regional 

and global security, raise living standards, and reduce 

global warming pollution. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Renew3 able Energy Agency (IRENA) Act of 2008’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Renewable energy technology will be critical 

7 for the United States and the world in overcoming 

8 dependence on oil and reducing levels of dangerous 

9 global warming pollution. 

10 (2) The institutional support for renewable en11 ergy technology needs to be strengthened to match 

12 this growing level of importance to the United States 

13 and the world. 

14 (3) International agencies have been formed on 

15 two occasions to address the unique problems and 

16 geopolitical dynamics associated with different en17 ergy sources: the International Atomic Energy Agen18 cy (IAEA) and the International Energy Agency 

19 (IEA). 

20 (4) The IAEA, formed in 1957, represents the 

21 culmination of President Eisenhower’s ‘‘Atoms for 

22 Peace’’ proposal, emphasizing safe, secure, and 

23 peaceful use of nuclear technologies. Under the guid24 ance and oversight of the IAEA, nuclear power has 

25 grown from supplying almost none of the world’s 


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1 electricity at the IAEA’s founding to nearly 16 per2 cent in 2004. 

3 (5) The IEA, formed during the 1973–74 Arab 

4 oil embargo, enhances energy security among oil 

5 consuming countries through an oil reserve and 

6 sharing program triggered in the event of an actual 

7 or potentially severe oil supply disruption. With IEA 

8 helping to counterbalance the Organization of Petro9 leum Exporting Countries, global oil consumption 

10 has surged 47 percent over IEA’s lifetime. 

11 (6) Renewable generating capacity grew 26 

12 gigawatts in 2005, expanding worldwide nonhydro 

13 renewable capacity to over 182 gigawatts. However, 

14 nearly two-thirds of this capacity lies in just six 

15 countries. Meeting the world’s energy demands in 

16 the coming century while simultaneously reducing 

17 heat-trapping emissions and growing the global 

18 economy will require actions across nations to re19 form policy, expand markets for renewable energy 

20 technologies, and gather and disseminate informa21 tion and best practices regarding renewable energy 

22 resources, and appropriate technologies. 

23 (7) From 1970 to 2005, the direct cost to the 

24 United States of dependence on foreign oil was 

25 $7,000,000,000,000 (in constant 2000 dollars). 


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1 (8) Oil dependence harms the economy and con2 sumers, entangles the military in foreign conflicts, 

3 and endangers public health and the environment 

4 through the threat of global warming. 

5 (9) Significant public health, national security, 

6 and environmental costs are associated with the 

7 emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of 

8 fossil fuels. In the United States and many other 

9 countries, these costs are not currently paid by the 

10 polluters—a failure of competitive markets which 

11 leads to the overuse of carbon-emitting energy and 

12 the under-production of carbon-free energy. 

13 (10) Annual revenue of solar, wind, and biofuel 

14 energy companies increased to $55,000,000,000 in 

15 2006, a 39 percent increase over 2005. Venture cap16 ital directed towards energy technology has grown 

17 from less than $50,000,000 a year in 1996 to over 

18 $2,400,000,000 in 2006, representing nearly 10 per19 cent of total venture capital investment in the 

20 United States. 

21 (11) In the United States alone, over a billion 

22 tons of greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated 

23 each year at a profit through energy efficiency meas24 ures by 2030, avoiding the construction of hundreds 

25 of power plants. 


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1 (12) Renewable energy tends to have higher 

2 construction and maintenance costs and low or zero 

3 fuel costs, while fossil energy has an opposite cost 

4 structure. This results in a higher number of jobs 

5 per unit of energy generated from renewable energy 

6 than conventional fossil fuels. The construction, 

7 manufacturing, installation, operation and mainte8 nance jobs produced by a megawatt of photovoltaic 

9 solar, for example, is 7 to 11 times greater than the 

10 jobs generated by an equivalent amount of coal or 

11 gas generated electricity. 

12 (13) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

13 Change has stated that to stabilize greenhouse gases 

14 at CO2 equivalent concentrations of roughly 450– 

15 500 parts per million—where global temperature 

16 rise could be limited to 3.6–4.3°F and sea-level rise 

17 due to thermal expansion limited to 4.6 feet—global 

18 emissions would need to peak by 2015 and decline 

19 to as little as 15 percent of 2000 levels by the year 

20 2050. 

21 (14) In 2004, carbon dioxide emissions from 

22 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Devel23 opment (OECD) countries were surpassed for the 

24 first time by emissions from non-OECD countries. 

25 Carbon dioxide emissions from developing countries 


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1 are projected to account for over 75 percent of glob2 al emissions growth by 2030. Encouraging growth of 

3 renewable energy in developing countries reduces the 

4 extent and likelihood that these economies will follow 

5 a carbon-intensive, fossil energy development path. 

6 (15) At least $20,000,000,000,000 of invest7 ment in energy generation and infrastructure will be 

8 needed worldwide in order to meet the world’s en9 ergy needs in 2030 (in constant 2005 dollars). En10 ergy generation and infrastructure typically turns 

11 over every 40 years, making near-term energy in12 vestment decisions instrumental in determining fu13 ture emissions of greenhouse gases. 

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL RENEW15 ABLE ENERGY AGENCY. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President, acting 

17 through the Secretary of State and in coordination with 

18 the Secretary of Energy, shall immediately seek to estab19 lish an international renewable energy agency to be known 

20 as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). 

21 In addition, the President shall direct the United States 

22 Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use 

23 the voice and vote of the United States to seek to establish 

24 such an international renewable energy agency. 


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1 (b) DUTIES.—The agency described in paragraph (1) 

2 should— 

3 (1) support governments in establishing policies 

4 and programs that promote renewable energy and 

5 energy efficiency measures; 

6 (2) assist in conducting country studies that 

7 analyze the potential of renewable energy; 

8 (3) provide a global status report for renewable 

9 energy and review progress on the implementation of 

10 renewable energy programs and projects; 

11 (4) provide long-term projections and scenarios 

12 in order to identify market potential, barriers to de13 ployment, and failures in markets and policies, as 

14 well as plan for future demand for renewable energy; 

15 (5) organize training programs, information 

16 campaigns, and courses relating to renewable energy 

17 for civil servants, scientists, businesses, and non18 government organizations; 

19 (6) assist in developing and supplying cur20 riculum relating to renewable energy for schools and 

21 universities, including post-graduate education pro22 grams; 

23 (7) cooperate with financing institutions to de24 velop and support innovative financing mechanisms 


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1 to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency 

2 measures; 

3 (8) facilitate the transfer of knowledge and best 

4 practices gained from successful renewable energy 

5 programs to interested member parties; 

6 (9) develop common, nondiscriminatory inter7 national norms and quality standards including cer8 tification relating to renewable energy; and 

9 (10) draft and disseminate statistics, technology 

10 information, reports on project implementation, and 

11 progress of legislation and policy programs relating 

12 to renewable energy. 

13 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The President shall seek to in14 clude in the membership of the agency described in para15 graph (1) interested member states of the United Nations. 

16 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

17 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act, the President shall transmit to Congress a 

19 report on the implementation of this Act. 

20 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.—The term 

23 ‘‘energy efficiency measure’’ means an improvement 

24 in process or technology that— 


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1 (A) reduces energy inputs for an identical 

2 level of service; or 

3 (B) increases or enhances services for an 

4 identical amount of energy inputs. 

5 (2) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

6 gas’’ means— 

7 (A) carbon dioxide; 

8 (B) methane; 

9 (C) nitrous oxide; 

10 (D) hydrofluorocarbons; 

11 (E) perfluorocarbons; or 

12 (F) sulfur hexafluoride. 

13 (3) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew14 able energy’’ means an energy supply based on— 

15 (A) solar radiation, 

16 (B) solar heat, 

17 (C) wind power, 

18 (D) tidal or wave power, 

19 (E) biomass, 

20 (F) geothermal energy, 

21 (G) small hydropower, or 

22 (H) large hydropower, 

23 if the energy supply is operated in accordance with 

24 the recommendations of the United Nations Dams 

25 and Development Project. 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro3 priated to the President $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

Æ 


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