Alliance To Save Energy president asks Congress to fully fund energy efficiency programs
Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan testified before lawmakers last week, urging them to fully fund energy efficiency programs and highlighting their economic and environmental benefits.
“Federal investments in energy efficiency have reaped huge returns for taxpayers, driving private sector investment, lowering energy bills, creating jobs and improving the environment,” Callahan said. “For these reasons, federal investment in energy efficiency has enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the Congress and the executive branch for decades.”
In testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies, Callahan highlighted the Department of Energy’s (DOE) findings that energy efficiency work supports 2.2 million jobs in the United States, as well as programs like DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office aimed at helping U.S. manufacturers optimize efficiency in order to become more competitive.
The Trump Administration’s recently released budget proposal included cuts to efficiency programs and proposed eliminating many of them. It would also decrease overall non-nuclear funding at DOE by almost 20 percent. The Administration is expected to release the full budget later this month.
“Cutting funding to U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs, as has been suggested by the administration, moves us in the wrong direction,” Callahan said. “Continued and aggressive federal energy efficiency programs at DOE are critical to driving U.S. economic growth.”
