A renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was one of many pieces of historic legislation passed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives yesterday, approved by an overwhelming margin of 253-37.

The RPS would require New Hampshire to generate 16 percent of new energy from renewable resources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydro by 2025. Because the state already generates about 6 percent of its electricity from renewable resources, the final number will be about 22-25 percent by 2025. New Hampshire is the only state in New England without an RPS. Environmental groups and clean energy advocates praised the House for supporting such important energy legislation, finally bringing the state up to speed with others in the region. "We were thrilled that it passed with such a high margin," said Carolyn Demorest, Legislative Coordinator for the NH Sustainable Energy Association. "This was a strong, bipartisan effort from legislators, stakeholders and the Governor. We applaud everyone's efforts who were involved." Both Democrats and Republicans in states around the country are joining together to create a cleaner, more secure energy infrastructure. As states move forward on this issue, they will push the federal government to do the same, said Jim Rubens of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). "This is an indicator of the massive opinion shift we've seen over the past six months to a year," said Rubens. "We've reached a tipping point now where Americans and legislators feel that we should be developing non-fossil sources of energy because of global warming, national security and economic reasons. I think Washington is taking notice." Now the proposed RPS moves to the Senate where it is also expected to pass with significant bipartisan support.