When will Congress wake up to the fact that HUD is wasting money on energy costs?
HUD spends billions on inefficient buildings. That money could be used to meet the affordable housing gap...but instead it goes to utility companies.
Congress could mandate and incentivize energy savings measures in multifamily housing...but so far no action.
S. 761:
Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013 would encourage energy savings in commercial and residential buildings and stimulate innovation in the area of energy conservation. see one
page summary attached below and find the
details at: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s761/text
What's happening?
5/5/14:
Is the time finally right for Portman's energy efficiency bill? The
Ohio senator says yes, but amendments may be the key. Ohio’s U.S.
Sen. Rob Portman is sounding increasingly confident that an energy
efficiency bill that stalled in the Senate last year will get
somewhere this week. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze has more on the
potentially bipartisan outcome – or something that may run it
aground. http://www.wksu.org/news/story/39086
5/3/14 Heritage
Action is urging Senate Republicans vote against an energy efficiency
bill that Senator Rob Portman has co-sponsored with Democrat Jeanne
Shaheen of New Hampshire. Heritage complained that "the bill
provides taxpayer-funded federal incentives to make building and
manufacturing processes more efficient, but these 'incentives' would
burden taxpayers and consumers alike while producing no tangible
benefits. They are also duplicative of federal and state efforts."
http://dispatchpolitics.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2014/05/portman-5-02-2014.html
3/15/14 House passes bill on
energy efficiency The House passed a
bipartisan package on Wednesday intended to up energy efficiency in
homes and federal agencies. The legislation, authored by Reps.
Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and David McKinley (R-W.Va.), aims to boost
energy conservation with a program called Tenant Star, which provides
incentives to landlords and tenants who up their energy savings. Welch's bill overlaps with the
Senate's energy efficiency bill, co-authored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen
(D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Welch believes the passage
of the energy-efficiency package in the House "provides a clear
path to conference," with the Shaheen-Portman efficiency
legislation, according to an aide. Shaheen and Portman
reintroduced a new, refined bill last week, after an earlier version
stalled in September, when debates about the Affordable Care Act and
the Keystone XL pipeline sidetracked the legislation. "With
energy efficiency, we have the fastest, most cost-effective way to
address our energy needs, all the while creating jobs and growing our
economy," Shaheen said in a statement following passage of the
House bill on Wednesday. "I'm eager to build on the bipartisan
momentum from the House and work with my colleagues in the Senate to
pass my energy-efficiency bill with Senator Portman." Read more
Notes & Links
Read Up the Chimney to learn more about HUD's cost burden from inefficient buildings - appended at the bottom of this page.
