Let's push to get this passed soon

This week, another good report from the Better World Club.  This article brings light to legislation, good legislation, held up in Congress as they fight over spending.  You'd hate to a positive change like this sidelined by a lack of cohesiveness on spending.

Our greatest return on investment, as a homeowner, consumer and business owner is money put into efficiency--reducing our energy and waste production.  We need a national policy and standard on efficiency.  Let's get vocal in asking our Senators to pass this into law:

BETTER WORLD CLUB NEWS

Lack of Agreement on Federal Spending Stalls Energy Efficiency Bill

Even Though It Would Create 80,000 Jobs and Reduce Emissions by Millions of Tons

It's Like That Time You Couldn't Go On The School Trip Because Your Parents Were Fighting Over Who Maxed Out the Credit Cards

A bill currently stalled in the Senate could establish the first national energy efficiency policy. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) co-authored the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011, which passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources by an 18-3 vote in July 2012. It is supported by members of both parties, most notably Senate Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The Shaheen-Portman bill also has a companion: the Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreement Act of 2011 (or INCAAA). As described by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: 

“The Shaheen-Portman bill contains a variety of provisions designed to increase energy efficiency in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy, such as establishing centers to train building engineers and technicians in energy-efficient methods, and a loan program to support industrial energy efficiency. INCAAA establishes new and revised efficiency standards for a variety of common household and commercial appliances based on consensus agreements between product manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates.” 

Proponents of the Shaheen-Portman bill say it will lower consumers’ net energy costs, add 80,000 jobs in the next 8 years, and lower carbon dioxide emissions by 29 million metric tons per year by 2020. 

Opponents see the bills as an unwanted expansion of federal power and a distraction from natural resource extraction. However, the main obstacle to both bills is congressional delays. “Until we get a clear architecture built dealing with taxes, revenues, entitlements and federal spending, I think any broad policy initiative is not going to move,” said Senator Mark Udall. Udall is a member of the same Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that passed the Shaheen-Portman bill in 2011. He remains hopeful that the two energy efficiency bills are targeted enough to circumvent the current lack of bipartisan agreement on government spending and tax policies. 

 In the meantime, Senator Shaheen has taken matters into her own hands. She has vowed to add an amendment to every bill introduced in the Senate.

“This [Sen. Joe Lieberman's Cybersecurity Act] is the fourth bill that we’ve filed an amendment on, and we’re going to keep doing that to try and raise attention to the fact that this is legislation that has bipartisan support that we think should come to the floor because we think it could make a difference,” Shaheen said. 

Contact your senators to voice your opinion on the Shaheen-Portman and INCAAA bills.

-August 2012