Frustrated with the lack of federal action to spur job growth and mitigate carbon emissions, Gov. Pat Quinn and 28 other governors sent a list of recommendations (PDF) to Congress yesterday and urged the adoption of a federal renewable energy standard.

If the governors get their way, lawmakers in Washington would require electric utilities to generate 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources (solar, wind, or biopower) by 2012. That would put the nation on pace to obtain 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020, a target environmentalists consider reasonable. Illinois already has stronger renewable energy standards on the books for both electrical and natural gas companies. Even so, the state would benefit because uniform standards would increase national demand for renewable energy produced within our borders. 

The Christian Science Monitor has a nice recap of the report here.