Secretary Perry's Energy Efficiency Legacy: Affordability Opportunities Missed
The Alliance to Save Energy News
Secretary Perry's Energy Efficiency Legacy: Affordability Opportunities Missed
WASHINGTON—The Alliance to Save Energy released the following statement from President Jason Hartke in response to Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s announcement Thursday of his intent to resign:
“I think Secretary Perry quickly realized what a treasure the Energy Department is, and he ran it professionally and quickly and rightly championed the national labs and the department’s world-class research and development activities.”
“But unfortunately the Department missed some big opportunities to deliver the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency – and in some cases took steps backward.”
“We know energy efficiency is the most powerful tool we have to meet our energy and climate goals. Today, energy efficiency, collectively, is saving Americans nearly a trillion dollars a year. It accounts for 2.3 million jobs, representing 70 percent of all clean energy jobs. And notably, efficiency is the only solution with the ability to get us halfway to meeting the country’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals by 2050.”
“While Secretary Perry rightfully recognized that we need to do more to make energy more affordable, the Department sadly didn’t fully capitalize on the incredible potential of energy efficiency to achieve that goal – from not addressing the growing backlog of energy efficiency standards to the inscrutable move to roll back lightbulb standards that would have saved the average household $100 in energy bills each year.”
“There is so much more we should be doing to accelerate progress, and we look forward to continuing our work with the Department and its leadership to ensure we are realizing the full potential of energy efficiency to tackle our energy challenges.”
About the Alliance to Save Energy
Founded in 1977, the Alliance to Save Energy is a nonprofit, bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders working to expand the economy while using less energy. Our mission is to promote energy productivity worldwide – including through energy efficiency – to achieve a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security, affordability, and reliability.
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