NASEO News

Testimony of NASEO Chairman Submitted to the House EWD Appropriations Subcommittee

Please click here to see the submitted testimony of William E. ("Dub") Taylor, Director, Texas State Energy Conservation Office and Chair, the National Association of State Energy Officials, before the House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee in support of FY '10 Department of Energy Funding.  The testimony includes funding requests for relevant programs and examples of successful State Energy Program activities.

Follow-Up to Regional Calls on EECBG

NASEO appreciates the high level of participation in regional calls on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant guidance on April 2nd.  NASEO will be updating its Recovery Act FAQ page in the near future to reflect some of the dialogue.  Please also check the DOE EECBG website for more information.  Please feel free contact Benjamin Deitchman and David Terry with any further questions.  NASEO will be emailing SEOs further resources as they are developed.

The ENERGY STAR® Mortgage Program Newsletter

The Energy Programs Consortium (EPC) has released its first edition of the ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program newsletter.   In this issue, EPC provides news about the launch of the groundbreaking ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program in Maine; quick facts on the program's benefits; a portrait of how the program is transforming the lives of one elderly couple; and an update on our efforts to launch the program in other states this year.  The ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program accelerates home energy efficiency, enabling homeowners to cut back on energy use, save on heating and electricity bills, make home investments more secure and affordable, and lower carbon emissions.

Secretary Chu: "Pulling the Plug on Oil"

"Pulling the Plug on Oil" by Energy Secretary Steven Chu in Newsweek (4/13/09 edition): "For our economy, our security and our environment, we must free ourselves from foreign oil. We must depend not on the oilfields of the Middle East but on the farm fields of the Midwest and on our vast wind and solar resources here at home.  After decades of excuses and inaction in Washington, President Obama is taking serious steps toward energy independence. By transforming how we use energy, we can create new jobs and entire new industries based on America's resources, America's ingenuity and America's workers. Through his American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama is making a down payment on a clean-energy future. We will double our alternative-energy capacity over the next three years. The Recovery Act also begins to modernize our nation's electric grid, so we can move clean energy from the places it can be produced to the places it will be used. And we will create jobs and cut energy bills by helping working families weatherize their homes."  Please click here for the full article.

Report Finds Ethanol is Reducing GHG

A new report has found that ethanol use is contributing to a growing reduction in greenhouse gases on a global scale.  Using a model for lifecycle assessment of transportation fuels called GHGenius, report author Don O'Connor examined greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions from grain ethanol since 1995 and projected GHG reductions from ethanol out to 2015. The important conclusion was that GHG reductions will grow by over 100% from 1995 to 2015.  Please click here for the full article.

Maps That Draw a Line on Energy Projects

From the New York Times Green Inc. Blog 4/1/09: "An overused metaphor in arguments about the environment and electricity projects is ‘drawing the battle lines.' But that is exactly what the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Audubon Society did Wednesday, on maps managed by Google, for 13 Western states covering about half the land mass of the continental United States. The idea was to tell companies that want to develop renewable-energy projects what locations were likely to provoke a fight. Although wind and solar projects do not add to air pollution or global warming, their equipment and the associated power lines can hurt endangered or threatened species, environmentalists say."  Please click here for the full article.

ENERGY STAR Make a Cool Change: Recycle Your Old Fridge Campaign

ENERGY STAR's Make a Cool Change Campaign encourages consumers to recycle their old, inefficient refrigerators and freezers, and when needed, replace them with new models bearing the ENERGY STAR label. Led by the U.S. Department of Energy, the campaign aims to help our country save energy, save money, and protect the environment.  For more information, please visit the ENERGY STAR Make a Cool Change: Recycle Your Old Fridge or Freezer Campaign website.

2009 Summer Energy Outlook Conference

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) invite you to participate in the 2009 Summer Energy Outlook Conference.  This important supply and demand forecast event will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC.  Registration is open, but space is limited, and the final agenda is online.  Please contact Shemika Spencer at sspencer@naseo.org or 703-299-8800 ex 15 if you have any questions.