Efficiency First

URGENT: CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS NOW AND ASK FOR A YES VOTE ON THIS IMPORTANT ENERGY LEGISLATION

June 26, 2009 – The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the American Clean Energy & Security Act, a landmark energy and climate bill that will drastically reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel consumption and create thousands of new green-collar jobs for American workers. The bill provides funding for a wide range of clean energy measures nationwide, including more than $50 billion for the home energy retrofit industry.

As this historic legislation reaches the House floor, we urge all Efficiency First members and other concerned citizens to pick up the phone and ask their Congressional representatives to support the Waxman-Markey Bill. To find the phone number of your representative’s legislative office, go to www.house.gov and enter your ZIP code in the blank at the upper left corner of the page.

Key points to emphasize:

The Waxman-Markey bill will put money in the pockets of American consumers by reducing their monthly energy bills.

• It will stimulate our economic recovery through the creation of thousands of local jobs that cannot be sent overseas.
• It will contribute to our nation’s long-term security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
• It will preserve the health of our planet for future generations by significantly cutting dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.
• The sale of cap-and-trade emission credits will fund crucial energy and climate programs without raising taxes.

Widespread support:

The Waxman-Markey bill is supported by energy policy experts, environmental organizations and trade groups, and has been strongly endorsed by Barack Obama. Speaking yesterday in the White House Rose Garden, President Obama called on Congress to pass the legislation, saying that the bill will create jobs and “open the door to a new clean-energy economy.”

“This legislation will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy,” Obama said. “That will lead to the creation of new businesses and entire new industries. And that will lead to American jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.” [Washington Post, June 25, 2009]

REEP program included:

The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance bill previously introduced by Rep. Peter Welch was included in the efficiency title of the larger Waxman-Markey legislation. The REEP program will fund state initiatives nationwide to retrofit millions of homes and commercial buildings.

“This is a major step forward on our path toward increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent,” Welch said of the bill. “I applaud Chairmen Waxman and Markey for embracing the necessity, practicality and opportunity of investing in efficiency. Not only is efficiency an effective way to cut carbon emissions, it will also create jobs and reduce energy costs for families and businesses.”

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO FIVE FRIENDS OR COWORKERS!

More about the Waxman-Markey Bill:

http://www.efficiencyfirst.org/blog/2009/06/09/waxman-markey-bill/

More about REEP:

http://www.efficiencyfirst.org/blog/2009/04/01/welch-energy-efficiency-bill-included-in-house-climate-initiative/

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