Climate Change Legislation
Energy efficiency is the most readily available and inexpensive source of clean energy and must play a central role solving global climate change. According to a recent study by McKinsey and Company, efficiency improvements in buildings, industry, transportation, and energy production processes could prevent billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and trim the demand for energy services in the United States to current levels by 2030. The Alliance to Save Energy supports the creation of strong climate policies, domestic and international.
National Climate Policy
The Alliance to Save Energy strongly supports the creation of a domestic cap-and-trade program that sets a carbon price, implements complementary energy efficiency policies, and invests in complementary energy efficiency programs. A strong climate policy will spur unprecedented levels of energy efficiency and result in smarter resource use in hard to reach sectors of the economy. Energy efficiency will reduce the costs and increase the speed of cutting greenhouse gas emisions and is thus an immediate and necessary solution to global climate change.
Principles of Climate Legislation: The Alliance's eight principles of climate legislation describe a robust and lasting climate policy that would realize the full potential of energy effiicency through a strong carbon price and complementary energy efficiency measures.
Frequently Asked Questions: With several major pieces of climate legislation moving through the United States Congress, many Americans have unanwered questions about the impacts of these bills. This document uses a number of recent reports to answer key questions about climate legislation, focusing on the keystone role of energy efficiency in solving the climate challenge.
Current Climate Legislation
Both chambers of the 111th Congress have made steady progress on climate legislation. In June 2009, the House passed its climate and energy bill, ACES, and the Senate has working on comparable legislation since. Below are the summaries of three major pieces of climate legislation from the 111th Congress:
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES or H.R. 2454) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26, 2009, following months of negotiation. The bill combines a firm cap on greenhouse gas emissions with very strong complementary energy efficiency provisions, including new and improved efficiency codes and standards, better consumer information, and transportation planning.
The American Power Act of 2010 (APA) was introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on May 12, 2010. The long-awaited Senate climate bill would establish a greenhouse gas pollution reduction program and encourage development of nuclear power, offshore oil and gas drilling, coal, clean transportation, and, to a lesser extent, energy efficiency and renewable energy. The bill does not include the full suite of energy policies in ACES, but would likely encorporate the Senate energy bill, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA)
The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act of 2009 was introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in September 2009 and passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on October 5, 2009. The bill contains a similar greenhouse gas pollution reduction program to the House-passed bill, but has made little headway in the Senate.
Previous United States Climate Legislation
The 110th Congress introduced several climate bills, most significantly the Dingell-Boucher bill and the Warner-Boxer-Lieberman Bill, both introduced in the Senate. While none of the bills developed the momentum or significance of legislation in the 111th Congress, they set a precedent for climate legislation.
- Climate Legislation from the 110th Congress - Comparison Table – From the Alliance to Save Energy
- Climate Legislation from the 110th Congress - Resources for the Future Resource Page
