Des Moines, IA - A new national report finds that Iowa households would save an average of $282 per year and 6,200 sustainable jobs would be created in the state over the next ten years if Congress acts now to include strong energy efficiency improvements in energy and climate 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 by Environment Iowa and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The efficiency provisions would prevent 5 million metric tons of global warming emissions from being released here in 2020 alone, the equivalent of taking over 900,000 cars off the road for a year.
Speaking at the energy efficient Des Moines Central Public Library, Ted Grauer, owner of Van Meter-based Grauer Consulting, an engineering design firm specializing in efficiency, said, “making buildings use less energy and save people money is what I've dedicated my career - over 30 years worth of work – to. It just makes sense. There's plenty of opportunity and the technology is out there. Businesses, cities, schools, and homeowners just need the incentives and assistance to want to make the right move.”
“Americans know that energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest, cheapest way of reducing our energy use and pollution,” concluded Environment Iowa fellow Eric Nost. “These common sense solutions will put cash back in our pockets and help protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the future of the planet.”
The report also found that energy efficiency policies contained within the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), which passed the House of Representatives in June, would create 4,300 new jobs here in Iowa, save the average household $211 a year, and reduce annual carbon emissions by 2.8 million metric tons in Iowa 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,” said Nost. “Senators Grassley and Harkin should lead the fight for common sense energy efficiency policies and jumpstart the transition to a clean energy economy.”
The group called for policy improvements which would generate more than 569,000 clean energy jobs and save the average American household $283 per year by 2020. 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 carbon dioxide emissions nationwide by 480 million metric tons in 2020, equivalent to taking over 87 million cars off the road for a year.
The Des Moines Public Library's Central Branch, completed in 2006, features several design components that aim to use less energy more wisely. The “green” roof has been landscaped with grasses and flowers that act as another layer of insulation, reducing the amount of energy necessary to heat and cool the building. Moreover, the building's mechanical and electrical systems were designed to use 30% less energy than conventional buildings.
The report concludes that Senators 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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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.
