By Debra DeHaney-Howard
July 4, 2011

Led by Energy Committee Chair Santa Ana (CA) Mayor Miguel Pulido, members of the Energy Policy Committee met June 17 during the Conference of Mayors 79th Annual Meeting in Baltimore and considered seven policy resolutions, including a resolution reaffirming the Conference of Mayors call for Congress and the Administration to appropriate full funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, which remains a top priority for the Conference of Mayors.

During the June 20 Business Session, the full membership of the Conference of Mayors unanimously adopted the Energy Committees’ policy recommendations that included calling for establishing financial programs for energy efficiency, increasing electric vehicles in the U.S., and greening the retail community.

Following the Committee’s resolution debate, Floyd DesChamps, Senior Vice President of Policy and Research for the Alliance to Save Energy briefed members on the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011, a bill that seeks to develop a national strategy to increase the use of energy efficiency technologies throughout the economy. DesChamps told panel members that the bipartisan legislation (S. 1000) — which was introduced last month by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (NH) and Rob Portman (OH) — embraces numerous measures to help the nation address its growing energy challenges. It also establishes a number of programs and activities to promote energy efficiency and conservation, including a provision that adresses building codes. DesChamps reported that more than 100 companies and organizations, including the Conference of Mayors support the legislation and pledged to continue to work with the Conference on passage of the legislation.

Tom Phillips, Director of Government Affairs for Siemens Corporation and Susan Hlady, Associate Director of GlobeScan presented key findings from the Conference’s recently released survey titled, Clean Energy Solutions for America’s Cities, noting nearly 400 mayors in all 50 states, representing about 74 million people responded to the survey. The report, prepared by GlobeScan and sponsored by Siemens, reaffirms the mayors’ commitment in moving forward on strong and innovative energy and climate initiatives despite the tough economic times. Phillips underscored Siemens commitment to providing cities with clean, sustainable energy technology solutions.

Below are the key findings from the survey:

• Seventy-five percent expect their deployment of clean energy technologies to increase over the next five years;

• Cities identify financial constraints as the most significant challenge to improving energy efficiency and conservation, and developing new renewable energy supplies;

• LED and other efficient lighting (76 percent), low-energy building technologies (68 percent), and solar systems to generate electricity (46 percent) are the top three choices among mayors as the most promising technologies for reducing energy use and carbon emissions;

• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) are shown to have multiple benefits for cities; mayors point to the economic benefits of clean energy solutions as key drivers of their energy strategies;

• For one in three cities, adapting to climate change is already an element of their capital planning and/or capital improvement programs; and

• Twenty-five percent of all cities have already set targets for the use of renewable energy.

Adopted Resolutions:

• Calling on Congress and the Administration to Support Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs

• Calling on Congress and the Administration to Provide Funding for the EPA Climate Showcase Grants for Local Governments

• Supporting Full and Dedicated Funding of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants

• Promote the Greening of the Retail Community

• Support for the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative and Efforts to Expand the Nation’s Stock of Affordable, Green, Healthy, and Sustainable Housing

• In Support of the Better Building Initiative

• Supporting Electric Vehicles