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June 12, 2014
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is celebrating its 30th anniversary! To mark the occasion in style, EESI has refreshed its logo and launched an all-new website, with plenty of user-friendly features but with all the content that has earned EESI a reputation as a trusted source of credible, non-partisan information on energy and environment solutions.
As EESI hits this noteworthy milestone, its eyes are firmly fixed on the future. With a major United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled for 2015, EESI is focusing on action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), such as black carbon, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). SLCPs are responsible for roughly half the global warming we are currently experiencing, but remain in the atmosphere for less than 20 years. Cutting SLCP emissions now will, therefore, help mitigate climate change in a generation or less. EESI is also emphasizing the need for resiliency measures for our buildings and transportation infrastructure, to cope with the climate change that is already taking place. And, EESI is paying particular attention to the water-energy nexus, a neglected but absolutely critical relationship: energy generation requires large amounts of water, and piping water requires large amounts of energy.
Former Rep. Dick Ottinger, EESI’s founder and chairman emeritus, saluted the launch of the new website as a symbol of EESI’s focus on the future. “EESI’s work is more important than ever. When we first launched the organization, it was vital that the American public and their representatives have the right information on climate change. That need is stronger than ever.” Jared Blum, EESI’s Chairman and President of the Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association, agreed. “EESI’s credibility and longevity is a testament to the value it provides to our nation’s policymakers. It is also a testament to the importance of the issues EESI tackles on science, technology, and policy as we seek to address climate change and move toward a low-carbon economy.”
Carol Werner, who has been EESI’s Executive Director since 1998, noted “What EESI is today would not have been possible without the help of our board members, donors, partner organizations, supporters, and our many passionate fans in the policymaking community – not to mention our staff, volunteers and interns! We have achieved so much together over the past 30 years, and I really look forward to continuing our work together to advance sustainable energy solutions.” She continued, “Our approach is holistic, understanding that energy and environment are inextricably intertwined and that a healthy economy and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand.”
EESI can point to a long list of policy achievements in its 30 years of existence. Recently, EESI and its partners, South Carolina's electric co-ops, promoted a rural energy savings program, which became part of the 2014 Farm Bill. This program helps electric co-op customers pay for energy efficiency upgrades through on-bill financing: they don’t need to come up with any money upfront, but repay their loans through their monthly bills. In many cases, households save more money every month on their energy bills than they owe in repayments. Beginning in 2000, EESI also played a key role in getting renewable bioenergy into farm legislation. By using some types of native grasses, like switchgrass, to make fuel for vehicles, America can keep its lands healthy and productive while driving down our dependence on foreign oil.
EESI’s new website will help to better showcase these achievements, and set the stage for the many to come. A powerful advanced search interface is one of the new website’s key highlights, giving visitors the ability to easily hone in on one of 96 white papers, 708 articles, 275 newsletters, or one of more than 250 briefings EESI has held since 2006. Visitors will find dedicated search boxes for our briefings, newsletters and fact sheets. Keeping up with the times, the new site makes it easy to share content on a wide variety of social media sites, and is mobile-friendly, adapting itself automatically to a visitor’s screen size. The website was developed by Baltimore-based Piccirilli Dorsey.
EESI grew out of the Environmental and Energy Study Conference, a bipartisan and bicameral Congressional caucus originally launched in 1975 by former Congressmen Dick Ottinger, John Heinz, and Gilbert Gude, and which grew to encompass a majority of the House and Senate. The leadership of the Study Conference launched the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, which got underway in 1984 as an independent nonprofit, to provide greater information and policy resources to Congress on energy and environmental issues.
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For more information, please contact Amaury Laporte at alaporte@eesi.org or (202) 662-1884.
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