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ByKevinFreking The Associated Press WASHINGTON The lead- ers of the United States, Canada and Mexico will pledge this week to rely on renewable energy to gen- erate 50 percent of North America's electrical power by 2025, White House offi- cials said Monday. That's a big jump from last year's 37 percent level. But it's doable through greater efficiency and re- liance on solar, wind and other clean energy sources, Brian Deese, se- nior adviser to President Barack Obama, said. "The transformation of the American energy sec- tor that's underway is go- ing to continue," Deese said. "That has been driven by some of the pol- icy choices this president has made, but it's also being driven by market forces that are bringing down the cost of clean en- ergy at rates that even the smartest analysts weren't predicting only a couple of years ago." Deese said the admin- istration's effort to re- duce power-plant emis- sions, dubbed the "Clean Power Plan," is a central component of the effort to get to 50 percent re- newable energy. But the Supreme Court earlier this year blocked the Environ- mental Protection Agency from enforcing the plan until certain legal chal- lenges were resolved. Obama will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and President Enrique Pena Nieto during Wednesday's North American Leaders' Summit in Ottawa. Efforts to curb global warming will be a big part of the agenda. On that front, Mexico will also join the United States and Canada in tackling methane emissions. Ear- lier this year, Obama and Trudeau committed to re- ducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sec- tors by at least 40 percent over the next decade from 2012 levels. Mexico is also making that commitment this week, Deese said. Methane is the second most prevalent green- house gas emitted in the United States from human activities. While meth- ane's lifeline in the atmo- sphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide, it's much more efficient at trapping heat from the sun. Canada is already far ahead in reliance on re- newable energy at 81 per- cent. The United States is at 33 percent, most of that coming from nu- clear plants, while Mexico is at 18 percent, accord- ing to Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Trudeau. ENERGY North American leaders pledge to push renewables By John Raby and Jonathan Mattise The Associated Press RAINELLE, W.VA. When the torrential rains stopped in the tiny West Virginia town of Rainelle, the volunteers started showing up. By Monday, a small food line at a shopping plaza had ballooned from a couple of hundred hot dogs and ham- burgers to a feast for flood victims — everything from bananas to cupcakes to na- chos — and more hot dogs. Behind the food line, a large room was filled halfway to the ceiling with bags of do- nated clothing. As volunteers sorted the items, the extent of last Thursday's deluge came into clearer focus: Thou- sands of homes and busi- nesses were damaged or de- stroyed and at least 23 peo- ple were killed when up to 9 inches of rain fell in a short span, causing perhaps the worst flooding the state has seen in three decades. More than 400 people were living in shelters across the state. "We haven't stopped feeding people," volunteer Kelsi Shawver said inside the Park Center shopping plaza. "I don't even know that I'd call it volunteering. I'm just here to help." Some of the worst de- struction was in Rainelle, a town of about 1,500 peo- ple surrounded by hills, the Meadow River and several tributaries. Founded by the Rainelle brothers, Thomas and John, and once home to the largest hardwood lum- ber mill in the world, the town's motto is "A town built to carry on ... building great things since 1906," ac- cording to its website . The recovery and re- building has already begun. Along U.S. Route 60, the piles along the road came in two forms — ruined belong- ings and donated household supplies that needed to be picked up. At the shopping plaza, state troopers as- sisted with traffic flow and helped carry items to a sup- ply drop-off and distribu- tion center while helicop- ters buzzed overhead. The Rainelle United Methodist Church, thought to be the largest structure in the world built entirely of American Chestnut lum- ber, had also turned into a donation center. The church basement flooded but the main level, which sits higher off the ground, was unscathed. Cindy Chamberlain, who oversees the shopping cen- ter distribution center, said she worked with the Amer- ican Red Cross during the massive response to Hur- ricane Katrina in New Or- leans. "It parallels Katrina. It is that bad," she said. Chamberlain said she has seen an "amazing outpour- ing of love" from more than a dozen states, along with residents from throughout West Virginia. Because it's early in the response, she said she needs fewer dona- tions of clothing and more items such as bottled wa- ter, cleaning supplies and money. As food was served, the skies opened up and dropped more rain on the already-soaked town. For- tunately, most of the flood- waters had receded and there weren't any major problems after the brief downpour. "That was the first thing that went through my head," Valerie Oney said. "I was like, 'Oh my, is this go- ing to happen again? Are we sacrificing everything for nothing?" Another downpour hit in the afternoon, but didn't stop workers at the church from handing out supplies. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said during a press confer- ence in Clendenin, about 70 miles northwest of Rainelle, that thousands of homes were lost and there are "thousands of others that will need some kind of re- hab done to them to fix them up. Same thing with businesses." Clendenin Mayor Gary Bledsoe said 99 percent of the town's businesses were gone and 60 percent of the town's homes were destroyed. The town has a population of about 1,200 people. Tomblin didn't have any specific statewide num- bers on the destruction. The governor defended the state's preparation and response, but conceded they were caught off guard by an uncertain forecast and just how much rain fell in such a short amount of time. 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