ACEEE PRESS BRIEF
FARM BILL FUNDS ENERGY EFFICIENCY
For further information, contact: Neal
Elliott at 202-429-8873
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2002
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today the House and Senate conferees
released their report on the Farm Bill, retaining much of the funding
for the Energy Title (Title IX) that was added by the Senate. Of
the $405 million for Title IX, $115 million is targeted at energy
efficiency and renewable audits, loans, and grants to farmers. The
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), as part
of a broad coalition of other groups, worked with Senate Agriculture
staff to develop this title.
"We are pleased that the House conferees saw the merits of
retaining the Senate's energy provisions, along with most of the
proposed funding," said Executive Director Steven Nadel. "We
now look to the Senate, House, and Administration to ratify the
conferees' decision."
The bill's energy provisions take an important first step in addressing
energy issues in this important sector of our economy, which has
received far less attention than it deserves. Once the energy efficiency
and renewable program and funding are in place, we need to turn
to the hard work of realizing the savings that are out there on
the farms, according to Industrial Program Director Neal Elliott,
who worked on the development of the Energy Title
"ACEEE looks forward to working with the Department of Agriculture
and our coalition partners in making the promise of the Energy Title
a reality," said Elliott.
A summary of the Farm Bill conference report is available on the
House agriculture site at
http://agriculture.house.gov/farmbill.htm
