U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) is the new Democratic Co-Chair of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus. He was invited to serve as co-chair by U.S. Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the co-chairs of the Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) Caucus. U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) serve as deputy co-chairs of the Senate REEE Caucus.

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Exactly 40 years ago today, the first board of directors of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) convened in Washington, D.C., to set an ambitious agenda to educate policymakers about environmental, energy, and climate change topics. Former Rep. Richard L. "Dick" Ottinger (D-N.Y.) was elected to serve as the first chair of the board along with former Rep. Thomas B. Evans (R-Del.) as vice-chair.

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“The Inflation Reduction Act passed today by the Senate includes transformational investments in climate solutions that will bring us closer to achieving U.S. climate goals,” said Daniel Bresette, executive director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). “Our pathway to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2100 remains narrow, and we have a lot more to do. But the IRA represents historic climate legislation that, along with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, should give us optimism about our ability to rise to the challenge of climate change.”

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“The Trump Administration unfortunately never misses an opportunity to take a wrong turn on climate action,” said EESI Executive Director Daniel Bresette. “The 2021 budget proposal released today could—and should—provide a path to significantly reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but instead it does the exact opposite.”

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) today submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis an extensive set of policy recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change.

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On April 8, Hawaii Governor David Ige formally announced the Green Energy Money $aver (GEM$) on-bill financing program, a statewide initiative to make clean energy more affordable for homes and small businesses. The culmination of more than seven years of work by Hawaiian authorities, the program provides easy-access financing for cost-effective rooftop solar panels and other renewable distributed energy systems, as well as energy efficiency upgrades. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has provided assistance to the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA), the GEM$ administrator, since 2017.

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EESI welcomes the Obama Administration’s more ambitious Clean Power Plan, whose final version will be unveiled today according to a White House press release. Drafts of the plans called for reducing carbon emissions by at least 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The final plan sets the reductions goal at 32 percent. "This is a very big deal," said Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) Executive Director Carol Werner. "An extra 2 points may not sound like much, but they lead to a 6.7 percent more ambitious target. The Administration is clearly trying to push other countries to be similarly ambitious in their carbon reduction goals ahead of the climate change talks in Paris at the end of this year. That’s excellent news.”

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The President’s FY 10 budget request for DOE includes: • $145 million increase in the Solar Energy Program (83% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $97.7 million increase in the Building Technologies Program (70% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $20.0 million increase in the Wind Energy Program (36% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $60.1 million increase in the Vehicle Technologies Program (22% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $18.0 million increase in the Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D (8.3% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $6.0 million increase in the Geothermal Energy Program (13.6% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $101 million cut in the Fuel Cell Technologies Program (formerly Hydrogen Technology) (60% decrease from FY 09 appropriations) • $10.0 million cut in the Water Power Program (25% decrease from FY 09 appropriations) • $115 million in new funding for RE-ENERGYSE, a new program undertaken by the DOE to “build the foundation of a vibrant American workforce to participate in the green economy.”

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On June 11, 2007, the Departments of Energy and Agriculture announced that they will provide up to $18 million, for FY07, to support research and development of biobased products, biofuels, bioenergy and related processes.

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On May 11, 2007, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute released, The 2007 Farm Bill: Policy Recommendations for Integrated Renewable Energy Production, this is an update to their 2001 farm bill recommendations, The 2002 Farm Bill: Revitalizing the Farm Economy Through Renewable Energy Development.

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