Energy Conservation And Improved Energy Efficiency
Adopted at the 71st Annual Meeting in 2003
WHEREAS, energy conservation and energy efficiency are crucial components to any national energy plan; and
WHEREAS, the nation's mayors understand the need for the efficient and economical use of energy resources, which is critical to the future health of local economies and is of strategic national importance; and
WHEREAS, most of our nation's energy use is concentrated in communities, cities and regions, inefficient energy use is systematically draining families, businesses and local governments of their economic sustainability; and
WHEREAS, managing energy on the local level offers savings potential that is high enough to increase disposal income by 5 to 12 percent, increase home ownership by 5 to 10 percent, reduce infrastructure outlays, and increase high wage employment; and
WHEREAS, the California experience during the energy crisis demonstrated the value of conservation and energy efficiency where consumers actually saved sufficient energy to forestall outages and other disruptions that reduced the impact of the crisis on users; and
WHEREAS, sustained investments in new energy technology, smarter building codes, conservation improvements, appliances and fixtures, and building rehabilitation means more dollars stay in the local economy; and
WHEREAS, an increased rate of improvement in energy efficiency in the production, distribution, and end-use of energy reduces the effect of fluctuating prices, mitigates air pollution by reducing the need for new power plants, achieves greater energy security for the nation, conserves the nation's energy supplies, reduces the total amount of energy needed by the nation, lower energy bills, and reduced use of natural resources; and
WHEREAS, energy conservation and energy efficiency is important at all levels of the energy market which includes not only consumers of energy, but also the production/generation and its distribution,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the federal government should create a partnership with state and local areas to target energy use, helping stimulate a broad range of locally initiated strategies which address energy demand. Furthermore, this new partnership should support and stimulate local actions to aggregate large numbers of energy users together to, improve transparency in market functioning and accessible information, and should be cooperatively developed and implemented by federal, state and local governments working together as full partners to maximize energy efficiency and conservation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors reaffirms its strong support for energy efficiency and incentives to promote greater efficiency in appliance and equipment efficiency standards that reduce energy use; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference of Mayors encourages the Department of Energy to improve the energy efficiency of appliances by supporting and expanding the scope of appliance standards programs and setting higher standards where technologically feasible; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that through a genuine collaboration among federal, state and local governments with additional input from interested public and private sector parties there should be an aggressive educational campaign promoting the many benefits of using energy efficient products and increasing conservation efforts in cities.