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EESI and the Beneficial Electrification League launched a free resource to help rural utilities and their customers go electric: the Beneficial Electrification Toolkit. Electrification is beneficial when it helps save money, reduce emissions, improve quality of life, or strengthen the grid. The Toolkit is a first-of-its-kind online collection of much-needed resources that walks utility staff through the process of developing accessible and equitable electrification programs for their customers, from start to finish. Based on our years of experience helping utilities develop beneficial electrification programs, the Toolkit also features case studies to show best practices from successful electrification programs.
EESI attended the 2022 U.N. climate summit, which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. EESI’s presence at the event turbocharged our COP27 coverage, which once again included a dedicated daily newsletter, COP Dispatch, an article series, and three trackers following key announcements from the summit, report releases, and the attendance of U.S. federal and elected officials. At least 393 Congressional staff engaged with EESI's COP resources, before, during, and after COP27. EESI's COP27 coverage culminated in an in-person briefing series that included discussion of loss and damage (i.e., climate impacts that lead to inevitable losses) and natural climate solutions like mangroves that can store carbon while also reducing climate impacts. At COP27, the countries of the world unexpectedly agreed to create a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable developing nations cover the costs of climate impacts.
EESI resumed in-person engagement with Congressional staff in 2022. Our first in-person event on Capitol Hill since the beginning of the pandemic was our July 25, 2022, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy Forum (EXPO). Sixteen executive-level speakers from leading clean energy, government, and labor organizations participated in person, including then Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman and Department of Defense Climate Advisor Joseph Bryan. The event also featured pre-recorded discussions with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), as well as remarks from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
On September 28, 2022, EESI held its first in-person briefing since the beginning of the pandemic: Back to School: Catalyzing Climate Action in K-12 Schools. To mark the occasion, EESI brought an electric school bus to Capitol Hill, giving Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Congressional staff an opportunity to see a climate solution in action!
EESI has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to promote a federal energy efficiency program that will help nonprofits save money and cut emissions. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $50 million over five years for the new Renew America’s Nonprofits program, which will award grants to help nonprofits improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. Installing energy efficiency and electrification measures can help nonprofits reduce operating costs, free up resources to advance their core missions, set a good example of environmental stewardship, and improve the health and wellness of their employees, volunteers, and service users. To promote the program and help nonprofits access the federal funding once it becomes available, EESI has published a series of case studies and co-hosted numerous webinars addressed at the nonprofit community. We also provided the Department of Energy with comments on what would be useful in shaping the program details.
EESI helped the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) become the first green bank to receive Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) funds. HGIA secured $20 million in RESP funds to expand the existing Green Energy Money Saver (GEM$) on-bill program so that it can support the deployment of more energy efficiency measures, heat pumps, battery storage devices, and electric vehicle charging stations. While green banks became eligible in 2020 to receive RESP funds for clean energy projects, it has been an uphill battle for more than two years to secure the first award. Now, EESI is using this experience to help other green banks secure zero-interest capital for clean energy projects.
Decarbonizing aviation is a difficult challenge, since jet engines require combustible fuel to work. The strategy with the most promise for substantially reducing aviation's carbon footprint in the near and medium term is expanding the use of sustainable aviation fuel. EESI showcased sustainable aviation fuel in a series of articles in which we introduced the technology, looked at federal legislation advancing its use as well as corporate partnerships promoting its growth, and considered how the global community could help increase the use of sustainable aviation fuel internationally. In a related initiative, EESI updated its issue brief on greenhouse gas emissions from aviation—one of our most popular issue briefs ever, having been cited by the media 14 times and viewed 44,140 times in 2022 alone. Our heads were not stuck in the clouds, however: EESI looked at maritime transportation as well, releasing an issue brief on climate change mitigation and adaptation at U.S. ports.
EESI researches and writes about climate solutions from all across the country, from rural communities to urban ones, and from the coasts to the Great Plains. In 2022, EESI brought all those resources together in one convenient location: our new Climate Solutions by State Map. It compiles EESI resources (articles, briefings, podcasts, and white papers) by state or territory. This resource makes it much easier for Congressional staff to find information that is directly relevant to their districts—and to their constituents! Examples include an article on collaborative conservation in Alaska and one on climate change adaptation in action in Galveston Bay, Texas.
The five-year Farm Bill is a must-pass law that usually attracts a wide range of bipartisan support. It is an ideal vehicle to advance climate and conservation measures, with programs like the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP). The current Farm Bill is set to expire on September 30, 2023, and Congressional efforts to work on a new bill are underway. In 2022, EESI launched several Farm Bill resources, including a hearing tracker and an article series on agriculture and the climate. In 2023, we have been releasing even more resources, including a series of Farm Bill briefings. Our resources also include a number of legislative side-by-sides that will highlight key Farm Bill programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change. The side-by-sides will show how the House and Senate versions of those programs differ, making it easy for Congressional staff to make comparisons and ensure their priorities make the cut.
EESI helped launch an on-bill financing program to facilitate clean energy initiatives in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Solar+Finance Pilot Program offers on-bill financing for solar energy and battery storage and will finance $3 million in clean energy upgrades. It aims to improve energy resilience in time for the 2023 hurricane season and to reduce the high cost of energy on the islands, where electricity prices are four times higher than the national average. The program was modeled on the successful state-wide Hawaii GEM$ on-bill program, which EESI helped launch. EESI provided input into the program design to make it as equitable and accessible as possible. The program has been very well received: more than 350 applications came in during its initial 30-day application window.
As a D.C.-based organization, EESI was excited to provide in-depth feedback to the city about its Zero Waste Plan, and was one of only 15 organizations to do so. Washington is seeking to divert 80 percent of its solid waste away from landfills and waste-to-energy facilities by 2032. EESI suggested ways the city could achieve its objectives by facilitating, incentivizing, and operationalizing sustainable waste management practices and behaviors.
EESI prioritized international climate negotiations in 2021 by providing Congress and the policy community with key information about the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in November in Glasgow, Scotland.
EESI hosted a briefing series in the lead-up to COP26, covering climate adaptation, international climate finance, the state of play of the negotiations, and ways to implement U.S. climate commitments. A high-level briefing on global sustainable development featured former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and acclaimed scientist Sir Robert Watson. EESI also published its first-ever daily newsletter, the Glasgow Dispatch, which covered the conference’s proceedings during its entire duration. EESI worked closely with the British government, which hosted COP26 and co-sponsored our briefing series along with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
After every Congressional election, EESI reaches out to new staffers with environmental and energy resources. In 2021, unable to hold meetings or briefings on the Hill because of health and safety concerns, EESI had to think creatively, and came up with a cool concept: a virtual Congressional Climate Camp.
During this online briefing series, EESI presented new staffers with the basics of the legislative process—like budget and appropriations—and highlighted key policy opportunities across all sectors of the U.S. economy for achieving carbon reductions, especially those that also deliver climate adaptation and resilience benefits. Based on popular demand, we organized a bonus briefing about the political and policy dynamics of budget reconciliation, the process that allows Congress to pass laws related to taxes, spending, and the debt limit with only a majority vote in the Senate.
Congressional Climate Camp accounted for two of our top five briefings in 2021 and was extremely well-received by Congressional staffers and the policy community at large.
For the first time ever, EESI’s website received more than 1 million unique visits in 2021. That's an increase of 32 percent compared to 2020, which itself saw an increase of 55 percent over 2019. In other words, our website audience has more than doubled in two years! Our other outreach channels also did well. In particular, our @eesionline Twitter account received the coveted blue “verified” checkmark, which encouraged more people—including high-profile accounts, like Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-S.C.)—to follow us. And our podcast, The Climate Conversation, now boasts 33 episodes and is earning a slew of 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts; it is also available on Google Podcasts and Spotify.
EESI has been an enthusiastic partner in the NAACP’s Solar Equity Initiative, which seeks to boost solar installations in communities of color and connect them to solar job training. The high upfront cost of solar energy can limit adoption by poor communities and communities of color. EESI has been collaborating with the NAACP on how to best make use of inclusive financing to facilitate access to solar energy and advance equity, environmental justice, and resilience. In July 2021, the Solar Equity Initiative unveiled the Equitable Solar Policy Principles to increase solar adoption in communities of color and dismantle the systematic barriers that these communities have experienced. EESI helped develop these principles and is proud to be one of their original signatory organizations. EESI also partnered with the NAACP to convene a virtual event to discuss how faith-based institutions can finance solar installations in Hawaii. Participating faith leaders learned about the Hawaii Green Energy Money $aver (GEM$) on-bill financing program that EESI helped develop. EESI and the NAACP are discussing ways to replicate this approach nationwide.
EESI launched a new scholarship for Future Climate Leaders, which will award up to $5,000 each academic year to an undergraduate student pursuing studies relevant to environmental, clean energy, and climate policy at a historically Black college or university (HBCU) in the mid-Atlantic or southern region. In addition to the funds, EESI also intends to provide mentoring and career advice to the scholarship winners. The program is managed by UNCF (United Negro College Fund), a leading philanthropic organization. In early 2022, EESI announced the first recipient, Antoinette “Toni” Lorfils of Damascus, Maryland, a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
EESI held 28 Congressional briefings in 2021, the most since 2010. The online-only format due to the pandemic and EESI’s expanded staff capacity both helped make this increase possible. Our briefings were not only numerous, they were also well attended: average briefing attendance, at 163, was our second-highest since 2010. And we had an average of 324 RSVPs per briefing, a record high. This indicates that our outreach is effective and our briefing topics appealing. We share briefing video recordings and written highlights with all those who RSVP, including those who aren’t able to make it to the live briefing.
EESI helped usher in a new era for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), which finances renewable-energy, battery-storage, and energy-efficiency improvements for rural homes with low-interest loans that are repaid through customers’ electric bills. Due in part to EESI’s vocal support (including through our engagement with Congressional committees), the 2022 federal budget—passed in 2021—doubled the program’s funding, which, thanks to leveraging, means just about $200 million in funding is available for the year. An EESI article, “White House Pushing for Major Expansion of Rural Energy Savings Program,” explains how $11 million in federal appropriations can turn into $90 million in loans for rural clean energy.
We featured the Rural Energy Savings program in two briefings in 2021 (The Growing Climate Workforce and Unlocking Capital For Climate Solutions) and in a seminal report, Inclusive Financing Programs for Solar and Electrification.
EESI has long held diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) as core values and has taken active steps to put these values into practice. Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Statement, published in 2021, guides our work by establishing objectives and measuring progress as we better incorporate DEIJ principles across the full suite of EESI activities: technical assistance programs, policy work, communications, and operations. We are amplifying the voices of Black, Indigenous, people of color, legacy, and frontline communities that are facing climate impacts. We are supporting programs that increase energy affordability and expand clean energy access in these communities. As part of our intensified focus on DEIJ issues, we published an overview of environmental justice on our website. Environmental justice is the concept that all people—regardless of race, color, national origin, or income—have an equal right to strong environmental protection and to be informed of and involved in decision-making impacting their environment.
Continuing our previous work on fossil fuel subsidies, EESI released a fact sheet showcasing the key policy proposals that would reduce fossil fuel subsidies in the United States. U.S. direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry are estimated at roughly $20.5 billion per year. When negative impacts such as health, environmental, and climate factors are included, it is estimated the United States subsidizes fossil fuels to the tune of $649 billion per year.
Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies would save taxpayer dollars, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing the use of fossil fuels would have several other benefits as well, as EESI demonstrated in another fact sheet about their wide-ranging negative impacts. Burning coal, oil, and natural gas results in significant climate, environmental, and health costs that are not reflected in market prices. These costs are known as externalities. Each stage of the fossil fuel supply chain, from extraction and transportation to refining and burning, generates externalities. Both fact sheets were only two pages long, a concise format that is now the default length for all EESI fact sheets to make them as reader-friendly and accessible as possible to Congressional staff and the public.
EESI revised and revamped its page of answers to frequently-asked questions about climate change, which has consistently been one of our most popular pages. In 2021, it was the fourth-most visited page, with 71,478 visitors, up 165% from 2020! In it, we tackle 22 questions, including “what causes global warming?” and “if global warming is real, why is it so cold and snowy this winter?” in as accessible and straightforward a manner as possible, never straying from science.
As an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that receives no Congressional funding, EESI is deeply grateful to all our donors who make these achievements possible! Without donors, these achievements simply would not take place. Please see our funder page to learn more about our funders or click here to make a gift to support this work in 2022.
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