Renew and Fully Fund the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program

Adopted at the in 2019

  • WHEREAS, energy challenges before cities, including sustained dependence on energy supplies from other areas of the nation and the world, uncertainty about reliability and costs as climatic events escalate, and how to cost-effectively accelerate energy efficiency and local renewable energy development, must be addressed to secure our future economic well-being and security; and

    WHEREAS, the pace of federal investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy is now inadequate to support city and other efforts to confront these challenges which must be addressed to maintain and expand the nation's competitive position in the global economy, build livable and sustainable communities, and further the job and economic development benefits of a new technology energy economy; and

    WHEREAS, the transportation and building sectors are the leading sources of energy consumption and associated emissions in the U.S., areas where sustained local action in these two sectors and others have shown that increased efficiency and renewable energy use can move cities toward less carbon intensity; and

    WHEREAS, cities have been early leaders in reducing energy use and promoting renewable energy supplies, as demonstrated by the more than 1,060 mayors signing onto The United States Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and other such related commitments; and

    WHEREAS, these successful city initiatives could be expanded dramatically and yield much greater results if state and federal partnerships were strengthened to support to accelerate such local action; and

    WHEREAS, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P. L.110-140) established the right mechanism to support such local efforts when it authorized $10 billion in funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program at the U. S. Department of Energy, which included providing for formula grants directly to cities, counties, and states to invest in new energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies; and

    WHEREAS, cities benefited from one-time funding of $2.8 billion that was made available in 2009 to support such local efforts, with the Conference of Mayors documenting the many benefits of this investment is in 2014 mayoral survey, "Successful City Initiatives with Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Funding;"

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages Congress to reauthorize and appropriate full funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, including providing for increased authorization levels, and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors thanks Representatives Marc Veasey (D-TX) and Greg Stanton (D-AZ) for introducing legislation (H.R. 2088) to renew EECBG and U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) for including EECBG in his broad infrastructure package, H.R. 2741, the Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow's America (LIFT) Act.
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