Alliance to fight energy efficiency program budget cuts

The Alliance to Save Energy recently said it would fight against budget cuts to federal energy efficiency programs that the Trump Administration recently proposed.

“This is a destructive proposal that walks away from decades of bipartisan support for energy efficiency going back to the Reagan administration and beyond,” Alliance President Kateri Callahan said. “We oppose these cuts in the strongest possible terms and will do everything we can to fight them in Congress.”

Among the changes the Alliance said it would defend against are the elimination of the ENERGY STAR program and steep budget cuts at the Department of Energy (DOE).

The ENERGY STAR program costs $50 million to manage and creates $34 billion in energy savings for consumers. It also cuts pollution and encourages innovation and economic activity, Callahan said. The program has over 16,000 partner companies and organizations, and nearly half of American households use ENERGY STAR products.

DOE’s energy efficiency standards have led to $63 billion in utility bill savings in 2015, according to Callahan. DOE also runs the Weatherization Assistance Program would also be eliminated under this proposal.

According to DOE, energy efficiency supports 2.2 million jobs in the United States.

“This budget ignores the fact that energy efficiency creates jobs and economic growth,” Callahan said. “Every time we successfully encourage an efficiency project or product, we are supporting jobs – whether it’s a factory job manufacturing high-efficiency windows and appliances or a construction worker weatherizing homes.”