Alliance and Partners Launch Clean Energy Week

Representatives from the Alliance, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), the Clean Economy Network, the Coalition for the Green Bank and American Businesses for Clean Energy joined forces at a news conference on Monday, February 1, to mark the official launch of Clean Energy Week.

“Congress is like a restaurant, where if you keep ordering the same thing eventually they put it on the menu,” remarked Reed Hundt, co-chairman of the Coalition for the Green Bank and former chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

The partners of Clean Energy Week are placing their order in to Congress: enact clean energy legislation as soon as possible.

Over 100 groups representing all sectors of the economy have organized five days of coalition-building, activities and outreach that amount to a wide-scale call to action.

“We have three primary objectives,” added Alliance President Kateri Callahan. “Engage Congress and the administration to take action now. Educate industry and government on the practical applications for clean energy – which are economically viable and create jobs. And encourage greater investment in clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.”

“Why the urgency?” asked Michael Eckhart, founding president of ACORE and one of the creators of Clean Energy Week. “Because the rest of the world has moved ahead.”

To hear comments from all five speakers, please view the webcast of the news conference (available free online until August 2010).