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On Friday, June 26 an historic moment occurred here in Washington: the House’s razor-thin vote in favor of H.R. 2454 marked the first time a U.S. legislative body has passed legislation for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The vote (219 yeas, 212 nays, 3 not voting) was the result of endless negotiations and lobbying which began months ago and did not cease until the day of the vote. We applaud House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, for their tireless efforts to achieve critical mass on this crucial bill. We also congratulate the House at large for taking this bold step toward the clean-energy economy of the future.
We are pleased that energy efficiency plays such a significant role in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) as passed by the House. All told, the bill would invest between three and six percent of the emissions allowance value into energy efficiency – between $85 billion and $174 billion over the life of the program. And several energy efficiency policies would complement the bill’s carbon cap, lowering the cost of emissions reductions by addressing market barriers that prevent the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency.
Among these policies are several for which the Alliance has fought hard over the years: building energy efficiency codes provisions that improve standards and emphasize the importance of compliance; an energy efficiency component in the renewable electricity standard that utilities are required to meet; and appliance standards and labeling. But the crown jewel of ACES is the carbon cap, which would reduce covered emissions by 83 percent by 2050. Read our summary and analysis of the bill on our ACES webpage.
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