[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 13, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S341-S342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD:
  S. 222. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 
the national limitation on qualified energy conservation bonds and to 
clarify that certain programs constitute a qualified conservation 
purpose, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, over the past few days I have introduced 
a series of bills that are part of my E4 Initiative, dubbed E4 because 
of its focus on economy, employment, education, and energy. Today I am 
introducing two bills that are part of this effort: the Community 
Revitalization Energy Conservation, CREC, Act of 2009 and the Energy 
and Technology Advancement, ETA, Act of 2009.
  The newest among my E4 bills is the Community Revitalization Energy 
Conservation, CREC, Act of 2009. This bill will increase the amount of 
funding available to State and local governments for the rehabilitation 
and revitalization of the fledgling green economy, and also expand the 
types of eligible projects to cover energy efficiency improvements to 
privately owned buildings. While our country is facing its greatest 
economic challenge since the Great Depression, we have a tremendous 
opportunity to create jobs critical to addressing the energy challenges 
we face. The CREC Act amends the recently authorized Qualified Energy 
Conservation Bond, QECB, program to increase funding for important 
public-private partnerships to significantly invest in energy 
efficiency and conservation, a key national priority. It also offers 
States and local governments the opportunity to create jobs and 
stimulate their local economies.
  First, my bill will more than quadruple the amount of bonds that can 
be issued under the Qualified Energy Conservation Bond program--
increasing the program from $800 million to $3.6 billion. This will 
provide the opportunity for private investors to partner with State and 
local governments to fund energy investments through State and locally 
issued tax credit bonds. As we give private investors the opportunity 
to participate in the green economy through Qualified Energy 
Conservation Bonds, we signal to the market that the Federal Government 
will continue to affirm the importance of investment in energy 
efficiency and conservation, as well as the development of new energy 
technologies. Helping these new energy technologies thrive is not only 
a promising way to develop the next generation of energy technology to 
reduce our energy consumption, it will also help to spur job creation 
as State and local governments embark on capital improvements.
  Increasing the size of the program will support funding for eligible 
projects including energy efficiency improvements of publicly owned 
buildings; rural development of electricity from renewable sources; 
research facilities or grants for renewable technologies such as 
advanced automobile battery technology and nonfossil fuels; mass 
commuting facilities that reduce energy consumption; or financing 
qualified energy production projects such as wind, biomass, geothermal, 
landfill gas, and solar.
  Secondly, my bill expands the types of eligible programs to ones that 
reduce energy consumption in privately owned buildings. It would allow 
States and local governments to help homeowners and businesses make 
improvements such as heating-fuel saving measures; electricity-saving 
measures; on-site renewable energy generating devices; or water-saving 
measures that reduce the energy use of the owner, renter or water 
provider. Gains in efficiency savings between 20-30 percent are easily 
achievable through improving lighting, insulation, HVAC equipment and 
controls for these items. These measures are often one-time and low 
maintenance or maintenance free once they have been installed. In terms 
of costs, implementing efficiency measures only costs about 3 cents per 
kWh of energy saved while implementing wind and solar projects can cost 
at least two to three times more.
  Importantly, my bill will increase the success of these energy 
efficiency and conservation programs by ensuring the Qualified Energy 
Conservation Bond program can be used to promote novel payment 
structures in order to reduce the prohibitive upfront costs that 
homeowners and businesses must pay for energy efficiency and 
conservation upgrades. By eliminating expensive up-front costs for 
homeowners and businesses, we can eliminate one of the main obstacles 
to making significant energy efficiency gains. Furthermore, we can 
virtually eliminate what homeowners and businesses have to pay for the 
efficiency and conservation upgrades by not increasing their out-of-
pocket expenses. For example, States and local governments can work 
with electric and water utilities to bill individuals or businesses 
monthly for the cost of the efficiency improvements based on the 
savings they receive. The payment for the efficiency improvements each 
month will be no more than the monthly energy-savings realized by the 
improvements, thereby keeping their monthly payments the same as before 
the energy improvements.
  The Center on Wisconsin Strategy states that buildings account for 40 
percent of total U.S. energy consumption, 70 percent of U.S. 
electricity consumption, and 43 percent of U.S. carbon emissions, a 
larger share than either transportation or industry. It is possible 
that the U.S. could realize more than $200 billion in annual savings 
from improved building efficiency alone. However, one of the challenges 
associated with implementing building efficiency measures is its 
prohibitive cost. Unfortunately, poor households devote a 
disproportionate share of income to home energy costs, often upwards of 
10 percent, because they have less income and tend to live in less 
efficient buildings and use less efficient appliances. Through building 
retrofits we have the potential to generate about 10 person years of 
employment in direct installation of efficiency measures and another 3-
4 person years in the production of relevant materials for every $1 
million spent on retrofits
  Large cities and counties with populations over 100,000 would be 
eligible for Wisconsin's share, $65.7 million, that my bill would allow 
for. Eligible local governments in Wisconsin include: Milwaukee, 
Madison, Green Bay, and the counties of Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha, 
Brown, Racine, Outagamie, Kenosha, Winnebago, Rock, Marathon, 
Washington, Sheboygan, La Crosse, and Walworth.
  I commend the city of Milwaukee and the Center on Wisconsin 
Strategy--they have already begun to develop a

[[Page S342]]

program to address retrofitting residential buildings with energy 
efficiency measures through Me2--Milwaukee Energy Efficiency. COWS' 
initial estimates suggest if you could retrofit nearly all of the 
existing housing stock in Milwaukee, an initial investment of just 
under $250 million could result in annual energy savings of over $80 
million. Examples of other cities that are tackling the issue of energy 
efficiency in residential buildings include Berkeley, CA; Babylon, NY; 
and Brookhaven, NY.
  All of these efforts to conserve energy require investments in time 
and money. By combining efforts on two of the challenges that we 
currently face--energy and employment--we can create great 
opportunities. Energy efficiency and conservation are in our national 
interest for our long term economic well-being, for the health and 
safety of our citizens and the world as we mitigate the effects of 
climate change, and for our independence and security.
  I have urged the Treasury Department to quickly issue regulations for 
the Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds so the initial program can get 
up and running. Once regulations are finalized, States and local 
governments can begin applying to receive an allotment of the bonds to 
pursue projects that may have been shelved in our struggling economy.
  The second energy bill I am introducing as part of my E4 Initiative 
is the Energy and Technology Advancement Act. This bill will increase 
partnerships between the Federal Government and businesses to help spur 
the commercialization of energy, forestry, and other technologies--in 
other words, to increase the ETA, or estimated time of arrival, for 
bringing new technologies to market.
  Particularly in the area of energy, we must do more to make new 
energy solutions, like next generation biofuels, a reality. My bill 
will help make the Federal Government a better business partner for the 
many businesses that are researching and developing innovative 
technology solutions our country needs. We are squandering the Federal 
investment of billions into research and development by not doing 
enough to prevent new technologies from sitting on the shelf or being 
shipped to another country. Helping these new energy technologies get 
off the ground is not only a promising way to develop the next 
generation of energy technology that will help break our addition to 
oil, it will also help to spur job creation and enhance rural 
development.
  One obstacle identified by the Forest Service's Wisconsin-based 
Forest Products Lab which conducts forestry and energy technology 
research with businesses and others, is lack of Federal support for 
moving technologies from the research and development phase to 
commercialization. My bill will bridge this gap by authorizing the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, USDA, which includes the Forest Service, to 
work with businesses and provide access to resources to assist with 
getting technologies to market.
  By encouraging the USDA to act as a ``business incubator,'' we can 
increase the rate of success and reduce the length of time for bringing 
technologies to the market. By providing a bridge to move new 
technologies beyond the research and development phase to 
commercialization, the Federal Government will accelerate the 
development of new technologies and create increased opportunities for 
small businesses, local and State government, and others.
  All energy, forestry, and other technologies will benefit from my ETA 
Act because it will help new technologies come to the market. It does 
so by promoting the Federal Government as a better business incubator, 
encouraging the USDA to provide business support services, and 
authorizing USDA employees and private-sector employees to work 
together in Federal or private experimental or product facilities. My 
bill will also increase cooperation between the Federal Government and 
innovative businesses by encouraging the USDA to allow rental of 
Federal equipment and property for the development of new technology.
  Lastly, a specific partnership encouraged by my Energy and Technology 
Advancement Act will spur the commercialization of biofuels. My bill 
requires the USDA to pursue a biorefinery pilot plant that will allow 
businesses to partner with the Federal Government to test various 
biofuels technologies derived from a variety of feedstocks, including 
woody and agriculture waste.
  Certainly one of today's greatest challenges--energy--is also one of 
tomorrow's greatest opportunities. Today, the transportation sector 
accounts for 70% of our oil consumption. However, there are promising 
efforts to significantly lessen our dependence on oil by reducing fuel 
consumption through increased efficiency and by aggressively pursuing 
renewable fuels, or biofuels. The commercialization of biofuels will 
also create job opportunities, support rural development and industries 
such as forestry, and develop the next generation of fuels that are 
sustainable and from diverse sources.
  Given our current dire fiscal situation, it is more important then 
ever that we are careful stewards of taxpayer dollars. Not only are 
both of these new bills fully offset, so as not to worsen our current 
Federal deficit; they actually provide over a billion dollars in 
deficit reduction. That's yet another reason to pass them, and I look 
forward to working with my colleagues to do just that.
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