On April 8, Hawaii Governor David Ige formally announced the Green Energy Money $aver (GEM$) on-bill financing program, a statewide initiative to make clean energy more affordable for homes and small businesses. The culmination of more than seven years of work by Hawaiian authorities, the program provides easy-access financing for cost-effective rooftop solar panels and other renewable distributed energy systems, as well as energy efficiency upgrades. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has provided assistance to the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA), the GEM$ administrator, since 2017.

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EESI welcomes the Obama Administration’s more ambitious Clean Power Plan, whose final version will be unveiled today according to a White House press release. Drafts of the plans called for reducing carbon emissions by at least 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The final plan sets the reductions goal at 32 percent. "This is a very big deal," said Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) Executive Director Carol Werner. "An extra 2 points may not sound like much, but they lead to a 6.7 percent more ambitious target. The Administration is clearly trying to push other countries to be similarly ambitious in their carbon reduction goals ahead of the climate change talks in Paris at the end of this year. That’s excellent news.”

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Accounting for more than 40 percent of our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, the building sector can either be our worst enemy or our best ally in the battle for a sustainable future. EESI believes there is a full spectrum of opportunities for the building industry to shrink its environmental impact and become stewards of the natural systems on which we all depend, while enhancing comfort, saving money, and achieving multiple goals through good design. Low-energy design strategies and technologies, use of renewable energy, water-efficient systems and environmentally preferable, nontoxic materials must become the benchmark for all building construction and renovation, and be maximized in retrofits. The federal government, which owns and operates nearly 500,000 facilities, has an opportunity and responsibility to lead by example, and this will allow the revolution in the buildings industry to truly get underway.

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The President’s FY 10 budget request for DOE includes: • $145 million increase in the Solar Energy Program (83% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $97.7 million increase in the Building Technologies Program (70% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $20.0 million increase in the Wind Energy Program (36% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $60.1 million increase in the Vehicle Technologies Program (22% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $18.0 million increase in the Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D (8.3% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $6.0 million increase in the Geothermal Energy Program (13.6% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $101 million cut in the Fuel Cell Technologies Program (formerly Hydrogen Technology) (60% decrease from FY 09 appropriations) • $10.0 million cut in the Water Power Program (25% decrease from FY 09 appropriations) • $115 million in new funding for RE-ENERGYSE, a new program undertaken by the DOE to “build the foundation of a vibrant American workforce to participate in the green economy.”

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In signing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (HR 6, P.L. 110-140) on December 19, 2007, President Bush said the Act makes "a major step toward reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."

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Carol Werner, Executive Director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), issued the following statement on the release of the president’s FY 08 budget for the U.S. Department of Energy.

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