Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner came to Minnesota to check out our clean energy economy. He toured Honeywell's Golden Valley facility to see how manufacturing for energy efficiency and clean energy creates jobs and stimulates the economy. Later, he participated in a roundtable discussion where he highlighted the need for the federal government to develop policies that will spark increased clean energy jobs and economic development in the states, something we're already benefiting from in Minnesota. He also announced $5 billion in clean energy manufacturing tax credits in addition to the $100 billion clean energy stimulus dollars.
Read more about his visit in the Star Tribune.
Energy efficiency means using energy better--through innovative technologies, processes, and equipment that power our daily activities with less energy. It's about smarter systems and streamlined technology that can make the energy we need go a lot further. Its also about economic recovery and job creation. That's what Senator Klobuchar and Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy, had to say yesterday at a regional competitiveness and energy efficiency summit at the University of Minnesota.
This Thursday, Senator Klobuchar will host an energy efficiency summit at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management (in cooperation with the Humphrey Institute). Read on for more details, an agenda of the summit, and how you can RSVP for the event.
Representatives and partners of ElectriCharge Mobility visited Fresh Energy yesterday to talk about some exciting developments in the field of electric vehicle transportation. Partner Paul Axt said people often view the development of the industry as a chicken-and-egg problem between the vehicles and their charging stations. What must come first to grow the other? ElectriCharge Mobility and charging-station developer Coulomb Technologies believe we first need to show people charging stations are widespread and accessible, in order for people to purchase electric vehicles.
It seems pretty simple: we should use energy as efficiently as possible. It saves money and avoids negative environmental consequences and costs next to nothing. Why waste electricity to get the same results?
Want to learn how energy efficiency can save money, create jobs, and fight global warming in Minnesota? On November 3, why not see for yourself how a local company has reaped the benefits.
For the fifth year in a row, energy efficiency has again been found to be the cheapest, fastest, and cleanest source of energy. That's the finding of a new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), released yesterday in Washington, D.C. It costs far less than new fossil energy, new nuclear energy, or new renewable energy. It stands to reason that if we can save energy more cheaply than we can produce it, that "frees up" the energy saved for other uses. That's an energy "source." From society's perspective, saving energy is the same as producing new energy.
The release of the
recent ACEEE study on business and consumer savings from energy efficiency is covered in Minnesota business daily
Finance and Commerce. The article highlighted that "Minnesota households would save an average of $240 per year and the state would create 11,400 jobs by 2020 if aggressive energy efficiency goals touted by environmental groups are approved by Congress, according to a national study." Check out the entire story on the
Finance and Commerce website.
According to a new report released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), energy efficiency provisions in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES - H.R. 2454) with improvements could create more than 569,000 new jobs nationwide in the next 10 years and provide hundreds of dollars in annual savings for every household in America.
On June 23, the U.S. EPA released the agency's analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a comprehensive energy and global warming bill expected to be voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday. The analysis found that the bill's overall cost to the average U.S. household would be between $80 and $111 per year in 2020.
The EPA analysis highlighted that because of the strong energy efficiency provisions in the bill, customers' utility bills would be roughly 7 percent lower in 2020 than if the law were not passed.
Read or download the EPA's analysis.
Fresh Energy Blog