The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the upcoming release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed limits on carbon emissions from existing power plants. The draft standards, under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, are scheduled to be released on Monday, June 2, and are expected to set a national limit on carbon pollution from power plants, while providing states with maximum flexibility to reduce their emissions. Rather than tackle emission-heavy plants directly, states should be able to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy technology deployment, or join regional cap-and-trade programs that allow market forces to best meet the overall carbon reduction targets.

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Once again, a seminal scientific report is confirming that climate change is happening and is already having adverse impacts throughout the United States. Today, the federal government released the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA), the most comprehensive and transparent examination of peer-reviewed science on climate change impacts in the United States ever produced. The NCA echoes the findings of the latest reports from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change, which state with high certainty that emissions from human activities are causing global climate change.

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is delighted to announce that it has been selected by Suja Juice Co. as one of the 12 nonprofit partners featured in the Suja Elements Cause Collective™ program. The Elements Cause Collective program seeks to raise $1 million annually for nonprofit organizations whose goals strongly appeal to Suja's core values.

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Wednesday, February 05, 2014—The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) applauds the passage Tuesday of the Energy Title and the Rural Energy Savings Program as part of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the Farm Bill). This represents a great victory for the production of clean energy on American farms and for the advancement of a clean energy economy. It is also a major milestone for EESI’s long-standing and ongoing efforts in these policy areas, including its extensive work with the "Help My House" on-bill financing pilot program in South Carolina.

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Wednesday, January 29, 2014——In last year's State of the Union, President Obama vowed, "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will." Tonight, President Barack Obama reiterated the pressing need to act on climate change, and highlighted some of the actions his administration has taken, without the need for Congressional approval, since the unveiling of his National Climate Action Plan in June. "Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth," noted the President. These executive actions are welcome, but only bipartisan, Congressional action can achieve the results necessary to prevent disastrous climate change.

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Monday, December 16, 2013–The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has earned a Four Star rating from Charity Navigator for the seventh time in a row, something only two percent of the 5,500 rated nonprofits have achieved. Charity Navigator, America’s leading charity evaluator, rates nonprofits based on their financial health and on 17 governance, transparency, and ethical measures. It only awards its top rating to the most fiscally responsible and transparent organizations, whose practices minimize the chance of unethical activities.

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December 5, 2013--The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP), the final rule of which was published in today's Federal Register. This new program, under the purview of USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), provides an initial $250 million per year in federal loans and financial assistance to support energy efficiency programs operated by rural electric cooperatives and other rural utilities. RUS anticipates higher funding levels in subsequent years to meet demand.

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The first part of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), which reviews the scientific evidence for climate change and its causes, will be released on Monday, September 30, but a summary for policymakers was made public Friday with its key conclusions. According to this summary, "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased."

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September 20, 2013---The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft rules for restricting carbon pollution from new power plants, which were released today. These rules would mark the first federal carbon emission limits on power plants, which represented 40 percent of all energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration. Most of those emissions came from coal plants.

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Washington, DC, July 2013 - South Carolina's consumer-owned electric cooperatives (co-ops) have released the results of their "Help My House" Loan Pilot Program. The pilot provided loans to co-op member-owners to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The loans are being repaid to the co-ops through participants' utility bills, in a process known as "on-bill financing." Billing data on the 125 participating South Carolina homes indicates a 34 percent reduction in energy use (1.35 million kWh) in the year after the work was completed, an average savings of $288 per home after loan payments.

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