"WASHINGTON (April 9, 2019) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are honoring 183 ENERGY STAR partners for their outstanding contributions to public health and the environment.

Energy efficiency is widely regarded as the least costly source of additional energy, the most immediate way to reduce carbon emissions, a crucial part of any plan to achieve climate goals and advance a clean economy. It enjoys bipartisan support.

But Congress let federal energy-efficiency tax credits lapse more than a year ago, and the industry has struggled to get attention in a dramatically distracted capitol.

The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance hosted the 15th annual Inspiring Efficiency Awards on Thursday, honoring leaders who delivered groundbreaking advancements in energy efficiency in five categories: Leadership, Education, Impact, Innovation and Marketing. This year, Leadership Awards were awarded to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Richard Mark, chairman and president of Ameren Illinois. 

The decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement ultimately may have little effect on the country’s ability to meet its pledge of reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions to 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, thanks to several states and cities that have stepped up to the plate. In June, the U.S.

If Indiana’s legislature had not repealed the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) in 2015, the state would have saved more energy, ratepayers would have saved millions of dollars, and many jobs would have been created, according to a July 2018 study by the Applied Economics Clinic (AEC)

...

The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance Announces Appointment of Six New Members to Its Board of Directors

New Directors represent members from IL, MI, MN and MO

Chicago, IL: The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA), a collaborative network of more than 160 energy efficiency organizations, is pleased to welcome six new members to its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2018.

MEEA’s new board members include:

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Friday voted unanimously to approve several building codes for the city. The approved codes will establish standards for new homes. The codes require St. Louis to adopt a number of national and international standards for energy use. These include new fuel and gas, electrical, and fire safety standards.

Gretchen Waddell Barwick, grassroots organizer for the Missouri Sierra Club, said these new codes will have an economic impact for city residents.

Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would relax the state’s strict wind turbine setbacks rules but again weaken renewable and energy efficiency standards.

The Ohio Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled Wednesday to discuss House Bill 114, which threatens to roll back the state’s on-again, off-again clean energy standards, which resumed 18 months ago after a 2014 law suspended them for two years.

Former President Obama took drafty windows to the woodshed in December 2009. He wanted to make a point about wasting energy, so he visited a Virginia Home Depot to try to make pink rolls of fiberglass a racy house dressing.

"Insulation is sexy stuff," Obama said. "If you saw $20 bills just sort of floating through the window up into the atmosphere, you'd try to figure out how to keep them."

On March 12, the White River Group of the Missouri Sierra Club hosted a Public Forum on Energy Efficiency at the Library Center. We had become aware that Springfield is still using the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code for residential construction, an outdated set of building regulations....One of our panelists, a representative of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, informed us that if the 2015 Code were adopted, a future homeowner could expect to reduce energy use by 24 percent and save $440 per year on energy bills. These savings result from a tighter buildin