The Alliance to Save Energy joined its honorary Board chair, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and her colleague Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in unveiling a bipartisan bill that would help the United States regain its economic footing and global leadership by deploying energy efficiency widely across the United States.
"At a time of extremely acrimonious partisanship on Capitol Hill, Sens. Shaheen and Portman have reached bravely across the political divide to help American consumers and businesses that are reeling from rising energy costs," commented Alliance President Kateri Callahan. She continued, "The Alliance applauds Sens. Shaheen and Portman for their statesmanship in putting our economy, our energy security and our environment ahead of party politics. We urge Congress to follow their important lead by enacting the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011 (ESIC) as quickly as possible."
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and an honorary vice-chair on the Alliance’s Board of Directors, stated: "I commend Sen. Shaheen and Sen. Portman for their bipartisan work on effective energy efficiency policies, including updated provisions on the building codes sections and appliance standards first found in the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009. I look forward to working with the senators to schedule a hearing on their bill."
National Grid, an Associate member of the Alliance, has also commended the bill. "National Grid applauds Sens. Shaheen and Portman for their efforts to encourage the use of energy efficiency technologies across all sectors of our economy," said President Tom King. "We look forward to working with them on their newly introduced bipartisan bill to promote energy efficiency, improve the environment and foster innovative technologies while creating jobs." National Grid is an international energy delivery company committed to the protection and enhancement of the environment.
The Alliance and many other businesses, advocacy groups and associations worked closely with the senators and their staff on ESIC, which provides energy efficiency financing options for manufacturers, strengthens building energy codes, requires the federal government to improve its energy management and establishes a wide range of new appliance standards, among its many cost-effective energy efficiency provisions.
By driving job creation and lowering energy demand and costs in the buildings, utilities, appliances, manufacturing/industrial and federal government sectors, the bill would save consumers and businesses tens of billions of dollars, create jobs and bolster our global competitiveness and energy independence.
The Alliance estimates that American households will spend about $5,700 this year on energy for their homes and vehicles, up nearly 25% over the past two years. These rising costs threaten the fragile economic recovery underway. The Shaheen-Portman bill, if enacted, can take a big bite out of these costs by cutting energy waste in buildings, in the industrial sectors and in the appliance and equipment we use every day, the Alliance said.
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