ACEEE NEWS RELEASE
SENATE
ENERGY BILL WILL SAVE CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES
AT LEAST $400 BILLION
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December
14, 2007
Washington,
D.C.—
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) estimates
that the energy efficiency portions of the energy bill that passed
the Senate last night are more than triple the savings from legislation
passed by Congress in 2005, and more than seven times the savings
from legislation passed in 1992. These provisions will save U.S.
consumers and businesses more than $400 billion dollars between
now and 2030, accounting for both energy cost savings and the moderately
higher cost of energy-efficient products. These provisions will
reduce U.S. energy use in 2030 by 7% and U.S. carbon dioxide emissions
in 2030 by 9%, relative to the 2007 Department of Energy forecast.
Two provisions were dropped from the bill yesterday—an energy
efficiency and renewable energy portfolio standard, and extensions
of energy efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives. If these
provisions had not been dropped, 2030 energy savings would have
been about 11% greater.
About 60% of the energy savings in the bill come from the first
significant increase in car and light truck fuel economy standards
in two decades, as well as initiation of a program to develop fuel
economy standards for medium and heavy trucks. Other major energy
savings provisions are new efficiency standards for lamps, appliances,
and other products (accounting for about 22% of the 2030 savings),
a new commercial building program designed to dramatically reduce
commercial sector energy use over several decades (about 8% of the
savings), and a strengthened program to address energy-intensive
industries (7% of the savings).
In response to the bill, Executive Director Steven Nadel stated:
"The bill that passed the Senate is an important step in efforts
to address our nation's energy problems and the threat of global
warming to our planet. We see this bill as a critical down payment
to address these issues, but much more will be needed from future
Congresses and Administrations. We are particularly gratified that
the bill includes new efficiency standards for incandescent lamps
and other products plus authorization for the Department of Energy
to set regional standards for heating and cooling equipment, based
on provisions that ACEEE negotiated with industry. We were disappointed
that provisions addressing energy efficiency and renewable energy
tax credits and portfolio standards were deleted, despite majority
support in both the House and Senate, but hope these provisions
will be enacted either next year or after the 2008 elections."
Transportation
Program Director Therese Langer added, "The fuel economy provisions
of the energy bill represent a giant step forward, bringing us cars
and light trucks that use almost 30% less fuel than today's vehicles,
and putting heavy trucks on the path toward greater efficiency as
well. The new standards will save us over 1 million barrels of oil
per day by 2020 and close to 2 million barrels per day by 2025,
while delivering commensurate reductions in vehicles' greenhouse
gas emissions and saving consumers tens of billions of dollars annually.
The automakers have acknowledged at last the need for this step
and their ability to produce the vehicles that will get us there,
and they will be far better positioned to compete in both the domestic
and global vehicle markets as a result. There's much that remains
to be done to make the U.S. transportation sector sustainable, but
job number one has now been accomplished."
Details on ACEEE's analysis can be found at http://aceee.org/energy/national/07nrgleg.htm.
This is a preliminary analysis. Relative to earlier ACEEE analyses,
some of the savings estimates were modified based on changes in
the bill and use of newly available data and estimates.
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The
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is an independent,
nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency
as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental
protection. For information about ACEEE and its programs, publications,
and conferences, contact ACEEE, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite
801, Washington, D.C. 20036-5525 or visit http://aceee.org/.
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