| Note: The Smarter Investment: Pathways to a Clean Energy Future has already occurred, and can be viewed at this link. I don’t need to tell you that this is a pivotal time for energy efficiency in Washington. For the first time in years, there is real momentum for doing something big on energy – necessitated by the economic losses of the last year, magnified by the threat of climate change. I believe the Alliance’s policy solutions can go a long way in addressing this challenge, and tomorrow I have the opportunity to share energy efficiency’s role and effectiveness with the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy. Listen to the hearing, “A Smarter Investment: Pathways to a Clean Energy Future,” live at this link at 11:30 a.m. EDT tomorrow. |
In my testimony, I’ll be addressing what I personally see as the essential question of our time: How do we tackle the climate crisis in a way that uplifts every community?
We cannot dream of a fair clean energy future unless we are thinking of the communities that could be harmed by the transition, as well as the communities that have already been harmed – communities where history tells us we need to be so much better at providing clean air, economic opportunity, and more affordable energy costs. I see energy efficiency at the core of the solution.
Through the Alliance’s policy proposals, we can reduce energy costs for the hundreds of thousands of families struggling right now to pay their energy bills. We can create millions of jobs in the efficiency sector: well-paying, diversely skilled jobs that aren’t limited by geography, and that with precise investment can be targeted to those who need them most – from rural towns in West Virginia to urban neighborhoods in Illinois. We can permanently reduce operating costs for businesses, with a focus on helping small businesses in disadvantaged communities recover from the impact of the pandemic. And we do this all while scaling up perhaps the fastest and most effective solution to climate change available.
You may know these benefits well – so forgive me if I’m preaching to the choir in my excitement! But I am so looking forward to sharing them, including our small business and Mission Critical Facility Renewal proposals, with the committee. The Committee includes many old friends of the Alliance, including Honorary Board Members Chairman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Rep. David McKinley (D-W. Va.), Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R. Ill.).
If you know me, you know I’m not shy about the issues I’m passionate about, and I’m going to the hearing with the intention of getting every Committee member just as excited and hopeful about the prospect of placing energy efficiency at the core of a clean energy future. I hope you’ll listen to the hearing. You can read my full written testimony here.
Thank you as always for your support.