More than 65 leading companies and organizations are calling on Congress to double funding for the ENERGY STAR program to significantly expand its impact as a public-private partnership combatting climate change and fueling economic activity.
“With broad bipartisan support and nationwide brand recognition above 90 percent, ENERGY STAR is among the most impactful energy and climate programs in the federal government,” the coalition wrote in a letter to Congress. “With a current budget of just under $40 million, ENERGY STAR delivers a remarkable bang for the buck in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 330 million metric tons of avoided emission reduction each year—roughly 5 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions annually. … Meanwhile, the program saves American consumers and businesses more than $35 billion annually in avoided energy costs.”
“We know that Congress is looking for innovative, cost-effective, and high-impact approaches for achieving emissions reductions while also boosting economic productivity,” the letter continues. “ENERGY STAR meets all of those criteria through a voluntary, market-based program with a relatively low cost and with enormous untapped potential.”
Led by the Alliance to Save Energy, the letter is signed by a broad coalition of manufacturers, utilities, trade associations, and advocacy groups—representing broad support for ENERGY STAR in the private sector and among environmental advocates.
“In many ways, ENERGY STAR is an ambassador for energy efficiency as a whole and all the benefits efficiency delivers in terms of reducing emissions, creating economic opportunity and productivity, and saving households and businesses money,” said Paula Glover, President of the Alliance to Save Energy. “The magic of ENERGY STAR is that it pushes efficiency into the market at very low cost by simply building awareness and giving consumers a trusted tool to make smart choices. And it’s not just for consumer products. One of the reasons for this proposal is to expand the work they’re doing to create similarly powerful programs for home and building efficiency, which would have enormous impact.”
Despite its success, ENERGY STAR—which is housed mostly at the U.S. EPA—has seen its budget steadily decline in recent years with overall cuts at the agency. Adjusted for inflation, its budget would need to be about $65 million today simply to keep pace with funding levels of a decade ago.
Source: Alliance to Save Energy
