Baltimore— A new national report finds that Maryland households would save an average of $287 per year and 14,600 sustainable jobs would be created in the state over the next ten years if Congress acts now to include strong energy efficiency improvements in federal global warming legislation.
The report, entitled Energy Efficiency in the American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009: Impacts of Current Provisions and Opportunities to Enhance the Legislation, was released today by Environment Maryland and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The efficiency provisions would prevent 7 million metric tons of global warming emissions from being released into the atmosphere from Maryland; this is the equivalent of taking 1.2 million cars off the road for a year.
Businesses such as greeNEWit, LLC, an energy auditing company, have worked with consumers on efficiency issues in Baltimore. Jason Jannati, founder of the company, says that their firm has been working on "sustainability, while also motivating the social interest" behind efficiency. Jannati says that they have "found it very beneficial to work with people who are interested in the broader issue of energy" to build up their company, noting their ease in recruiting interns this past summer who maintain ties with the business.
"Americans know that energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest, cheapest way of reducing our energy use and pollution," concluded Shea Kinser, Clean Energy Associate for Environment Maryland.
The report also found that energy efficiency policies from the House version of the bill – the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA), which passed the House of Representatives in June – would create 8,600 new jobs, save the average household $190 a year, and reduce annual carbon emissions by 4.5 million metric tons in Maryland by 2020.
"While the House bill is a critical first step in harnessing the power of energy efficiency, this report shows we can save even more money, create more jobs and reduce more pollution if Senators Cardin and Mikulski lead the fight for common sense energy efficiency policies in the Senate bill," said Kinser.
The group called for policy improvements which would generate 569,000 clean energy jobs nationwide and save the average U.S. household $283 per year. These policy improvements would result in 48 percent more jobs and 32 percent more consumer savings than the efficiency measures in the House passed bill. In addition these improvements would reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 480 million metric tons in 2020, equivalent to taking 87 million cars off the road for a year.
Senators Cardin and Mikulski can maximize economic benefits to consumers by:
- Supporting a strengthened Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) requiring utility companies to reduce their energy usage by at least 10 percent by providing incentives and assistance to help customers make their homes and businesses more energy-efficient (ACESA included a 5% EERS with an optional 3% increase).
- Modeling electric utility allocation on that of the natural gas utility allocation in ACES, by requiring that one-third be used for energy efficiency improvements.
- Extending the allocation of carbon allowance revenue to the State Energy and Environmental Development (SEED) provision.
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Environment Maryland is a state-based, citizen-funded environmental organization working for clean air, clean water, and open space.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient America (ACEEE) is a nonprofit research organization
dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy
security, and environmental protection. For more information, see http://www.aceee.org.
Energy-Efficiency-in-the-American-Clean-Energy-Security-Act-of-2009--Impacts-of-Current-Provisions-and-Opportunities-to-Enhance-the-Legislation.pdf