ACEEE PRESS BRIEF

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ACEEE'S HOWARD GELLER SUBMITS TOP-PRIORITY ENERGY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS IN TESTIMONY TO CONGRESSIONAL ENERGY SUBCOMMITTEE

Terms Bush Announcement to Reduce Energy Use in Federal Facilities a Trivial Step

May 4, 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On the same day that President Bush announced plans to reduce peak consumption at federal facilities in California by 10 percent, Howard Geller, former Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), called upon the Bush Administration and Congress to act on ACEEE's five-point strategy to make improving energy efficiency a cornerstone of national energy strategy. Geller appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Energy Subcommittee at a hearing titled "Energy Realities: Rates of Consumption, Energy Reserves, and Future Options."

"Ten years ago the previous Bush Administration issued its National Energy Policy," said Geller. "It gave considerable priority to greater energy efficiency and called for expansion of energy efficiency R&D and technology deployment programs, new policies to stimulate utility energy efficiency programs, establishing new appliance and equipment energy efficiency standards, and new federal incentives to increase energy efficiency. The current Bush Administration should make improving energy efficiency a cornerstone of its energy strategy."

Serious electricity challenges in the West and rising prices for gasoline and natural gas in other regions of the United States were discussed at the hearing, setting the tone for Geller's delivery to the Subcommittee of ACEEE's five points:

1. Reject deep cuts in funding proposed for DOE's energy efficiency programs and instead expand these programs in FY2002;
   
   
2. Increase corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks or adopt an equivalent fuel consumption cap;
   
   
3. Adopt a national system benefit trust fund;
   
   
4. Enact tax incentives for highly energy-efficient vehicles, homes, commercial buildings, and other products; and
   
   
5. Enact or strengthen efficiency standards on various new products.

Geller cited ACEEE research, saying, "increasing CAFE standards...would save about 1.5 million barrels of petroleum per day by 2010 and 4.8 million barrels by 2020. Over 40 years, increasing vehicle efficiency...would save 10-20 times more oil than the projected supply from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)." He also noted that federal investments in energy efficiency programs could produce a 40 to 1 return on taxpayer investments, that a national system benefit trust fund could reduce U.S. electricity use by 9 percent by 2010, and that steps to improve federal efficiency standards could save consumers billions of dollars annually.

Following the hearing, in response to questions about President Bush's announcement that he is ordering federal facilities to take steps to reduce their energy use, Geller termed Bush's action "a modestly useful but trivial step," noting that federal facilities are just 1.5% of U.S. energy use. "In general, we should be saving energy by promoting the development and use of more efficient appliances, buildings, vehicles, and factories, not forcing consumers or workers to turn off necessary lights, air conditioners, or escalators," added Geller. He suggested that "President Bush should build on this modest step by including ACEEE's five strategies in its forthcoming energy plan." Geller in particular criticized the President for submitting a budget that cuts funding by 50% for the Federal Energy Management Program, which helps federal facilities reduce their energy use, noting that "these cuts will make it difficult for federal facilities to achieve the President's objectives."

The hearing can be viewed at: http://www.house.gov/science/energy/energyhearings.htm.

Copies of Howard Geller's testimony are available at ACEEE publications office, phone: 202- 429-0063; email: ace3@ix.netcom.com. The report is also available on the World Wide Web at /tstimony/nrgchlng.htm.

About ACEEE:The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection. For information about ACEEE and its publications, visit our home page on the worldwide web at http://www.aceee.org/.