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Sen. Jeanne Shaheen Pays a Visit to CA-CP
By Roger Stephenson, VP for Programs, Clean Air-Cool Planet
New Hampshire’s senior U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen met with me in Clean Air-Cool Planet’s office to hear about what Clean Air-Cool Planet has learned in 10 years of climate and energy initiatives at the community level, and to discuss specifics of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (S.1000).
We agree with Senators Shaheen and Portman (R-OH) that “the cheapest energy … is the energy we DON’T use”. At home, my household electric bill is as low as $45/month thanks to CFLs and EnergyStar appliances. By installing a system on our home Buderus boiler that monitors both indoor and outdoor temperature and accordingly adjusts boiler temperature to actual demand, we’ve reduced heating oil use by 25 percent. By my count, we’re saving at least $885 a year. Who wouldn’t agree with this – and with looking for ways to expand energy efficiency a thousand-fold across the country?
Unfortunately the political world we live in demands that progress come only in tiny increments; in a different world the Senate would have supported more of the original Shaheen-Portman bill, which provided for a great deal of economic relief in the private sector, saved businesses and consumers money, and increased our energy security.
Nevertheless, the provisions of S.1000 that the Senate passed will lead to more efficient use of energy in buildings by federal agencies, resulting in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and save taxpayer dollars. S.1000 also directs the DOE to find ways to reduce barriers to the deployment of energy efficiency technologies in the commercial and industrial sector. In the energy consumption world, local governments are considered ‘commercial and industrial’. CA-CP will make sure local energy committees understand that the post-election potential for a national strategy to increase the use of energy efficiency technologies is real, as are the prospects for strong bi-partisan involvement and support. We very much look forward to working with Senator Shaheen.
In the meeting we also had a chance to brief Senator Shaheen on our current work on adaptation, climate preparedness and resiliency. Local people in New Hampshire are informing themselves using new data, and are beginning to identify ways in which they can protect their coastal communities using federal tools. Corey Riley, Manager of the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, briefed the Senator on three science collaborative projects that invest in community outreach and citizen involvement, and we poured over several of Clean Air-Cool Planet sea level rise maps showing impacts to Hampton, New Hampshire.
I’m looking forward to making sure CA-CP devotes time and attention to see that all members of the delegation witness and understand the growing coastal impacts and challenges of a changing climate, and what solutions local communities are relying on from state and federal agencies.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: climate impacts, Energy Efficiency, Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, local solutions, national policy, Senator Jeanne Shaheen 
2012-10-19 15:27:13
Source: http://coolplanet.org/2012/10/19/sen-jeanne-shaheen-pays-a-visit-to-ca-cp/
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