by Brianna Crandall — April 29, 2013—At a Capitol Hill press conference April 18, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) reintroduced national bipartisan legislation intended to speed the transition to a more energy-efficient economy. The senators were joined by industry leaders, energy-efficiency advocates and environmental stakeholders gathered to show their support for the legislation.
The reintroduced Shaheen-Portman Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness (ESIC) Act offers a deficit-neutral framework designed to promote the transition to a more energy-efficient economy while driving economic growth and encouraging private sector job creation. According to the senators, this bipartisan bill uses a variety of low-cost tools to reduce barriers for private sector energy users and will drive adoption of off-the-shelf efficiency technologies among the largest energy consumers.
Among the other leaders and stakeholders present, Franz Matzner, Associate Director of Government Affairs for the international nonprofit environmental organization the Natural Resources Defense Council, commented, “The energy we don’t use is the cheapest and cleanest there is. This bill takes important steps to seize some of the vast energy efficiency potential we have yet to tap as a nation so we use less and get more from our energy supply. Most important, Senators Shaheen and Portman’s leadership reminds us that clean energy is not a partisan issue. That’s a lesson we can all build on to do even more to give our children cleaner air and a stronger economy.”
Similar legislation cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the 112th Congress after similarly securing broad, bipartisan support. In total, last year’s legislation was endorsed by more than 200 entities ranging from businesses and trade associations to environmental groups and think tanks, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which all continued their support this year.
Several provisions of the legislation, which focus on industrial and federal agency efficiency, were signed into law in December. A study by experts at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) found that last year’s version would have saved consumers $4 billion by 2020 and helped businesses add 80,000 jobs to the economy. The updated legislation is expected to have a similar impact.
