Kerry, Snowe Lead Push for Energy Efficiency Funding for Small Businesses

Yesterday, Sens. John Kerry [D-Mass.] and Olympia Snowe [R-Maine], chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, urged the Bush administration to invest more resources to help small businesses become more energy efficient and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Although small businesses represent half of the nation’s economy and are responsible for half of the country’s energy consumption, the government spends less than two percent of the ENERGY STAR® program’s $50 million annual budget reaching out to help small businesses. Sens. Joe Lieberman [I/D-Conn.], Mary Landrieu [D-La.], Maria Cantwell [D-Wash.], Norm Coleman [R-Minn.], and Jon Tester [D-Mont.] joined Kerry and Snowe in calling for a larger commitment to helping small firms.

“There’s no greater threat to the Earth than global climate change, but by leaving small businesses out of the solution, the Bush administration shows they’re not serious about tackling the problem,” said Kerry. “Small businesses can lead the way toward a cleaner, greener future, so the least the federal government can do is dedicate $2 million -- just 4 percent -- of ENERGY STAR® funds to help entrepreneurs reduce their energy costs and foster green innovation.”

“As the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and as a longstanding steward of the environment,” said Sen. Snowe, “I am alarmed by the administration's lack of commitment to promoting small-business energy efficiency.

“According to a National Small Business Association [NSBA] survey, 40 percent of small businesses are still not familiar with the ENERGY STAR® product label and technical support programs that are available. And at a Committee hearing last year, the Environmental Protection Agency testified that it has only two full-time employees devoted to the ENERGY STAR® for Small Business program. I am pleased to join my bipartisan colleagues in urging the Administration to properly fund the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® small-business program.”

In a letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], which implements the ENERGY STAR® program, the senators urged the Bush administration to increase funding for the ENERGY STAR® small-business program to $2 million a year, in order to provide technical assistance and resources necessary to small businesses.

Sens. Kerry and Snowe successfully secured provisions to aid small firms in becoming more energy efficient in the energy bill that the Senate will vote on in the near future. The provisions will:
* Require the Small Business Administration [SBA] to implement within 90 days an energy efficiency program that was mandated in the Energy Policy Act of 2005;
* Establish an audit program to increase energy efficiency, using Small Business Development Centers [SBDCs];
* Promote financing agreements between small businesses and utility companies to increase energy efficiency;
* Create a telecommuting pilot program at the SBA responsible for educational materials and outreach to small businesses on the benefits of telecommuting;
* Allow small businesses conducting energy efficiency or renewable energy research and development to be given priority consideration in the Small Business Innovation Research [SBIR] and Small Business Technology Transfer [STTR] programs; and
* Establish loans for small firms to invest in use of renewable sources of energy in their business.

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The full text of the letter to EPA Administrator Steve Johnson follows:

January 2, 2008

The Honorable Stephen L. Johnson
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Administrator Johnson:

The issue of climate change has moved front and center in the national dialogue about our environment, our security, and our economy. CEOs from several Fortune 500 companies are bringing big business into the discussion, joining with environmental groups and urging the federal government to pass legislation and require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. We believe that small businesses, which represent 50 percent of the nation’s economy, have just as big a stake in contributing to climate change solutions.

This year, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has paid particular attention to the effects of climate change and escalating fuel costs on small businesses, and the role America’s entrepreneurs can play in affecting change in these areas. Our committee has already devoted two hearings during the 110th Congress to these subjects.

According to a recent survey conducted by the National Small Business Association, 75 percent of small businesses believe that energy efficiency can make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, only 33 percent of those had successfully invested in energy efficiency programs for their businesses. In fact, only 60 percent of the respondents to the survey reported being familiar with the ENERGY STAR® for Small Business program at the Environmental Protection Agency.

We need to significantly improve energy efficiency investment by small businesses. To that end, we worked to include provisions in the Clean Energy Act of 2006 that take great strides in this direction. These provisions promote financing agreements between small businesses and utility companies to increase energy efficiency; allow small businesses conducting energy efficiency or renewable energy research and development to be given priority consideration in the Small Business Innovation Research [SBIR] program; and establish loans for small firms to invest in use of renewable sources of energy in their business.

The 26 million small businesses in the United States comprise 99.7 percent of all domestic employer firms, and consume approximately half of all the commercial and industrial energy in the United States. In each of the last five years, the ENERGY STAR® program has received approximately $50 million in annual funding.

Regrettably, of this $50 million appropriation, less than two percent has been allocated to the ENERGY STAR® for Small Business program, which is responsible for reaching the entire small-business community. Clearly, this inadequate percentage grossly underestimates the critically important role small businesses could play in improving our nation’s energy efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint.

We believe that the time has come for small businesses to play a leading role in combating climate change and reducing our carbon footprint in the future. To achieve these results, we urge the administration to fund the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® for Small Business program at a minimum of $2 million annually. This would provide small businesses with the funding, technical assistance, and resources necessary to improve small-business energy efficiency.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry
Olympia J. Snowe
Joseph Lieberman
Mary Landrieu
Maria Cantwell
Norm Coleman
Jon Tester


GoodBiz113's take: Bravo! As the issue of climate change finally takes center stage -- environmentally, economically, socially and geopolitically -- we applaud Sen. John Kerry's Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for its bold move to press the EPA and Bush administration for ENERGY STAR® program funding that incentivizes America's 26.8 million small businesses to do our fair share in optimizing global energy resources.

SOURCES: Library of Congress, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
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Kerry, Snowe Seek Energy Star Details from EPA

Last month, an official from the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship that current resources for the government's ENERGY STAR Small Business program amount to just two percent of the overall Energy Star budget, and include the equivalent of just two staff members.

On April 3, Senators John Kerry [D-Mass.] and Olympia Snowe [R-Maine] pushed the head of the EPA for details on the program -- including the specific steps the Bush Administration has taken to assist small businesses in addressing the climate-change crisis.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, Kerry and Snowe called for more resources to be directed to the program, in light of estimates that small businesses use approximately half of all the commercial energy in the United States. Following, is the text of their letter to the EPA:


Dear Administrator Johnson,

As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, we recently held a hearing to explore ways in which small businesses can help to address the global warming crisis. We thank you for the testimony of Bill Wehrum, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency ['EPA']. Mr. Wehrum addressed the Administration’s efforts to assist small businesses in becoming more energy efficient through programs such as Energy Star.

We are impressed that the ENERGY STAR program helped Americans save $12 billion on their energy bills in 2005, while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 23 million vehicles. However, we believe that the ENERGY STAR program can pay even greater dividends if funded adequately and administered effectively to meet the needs of America’s 25 million small businesses.

For example, during the hearing, Mr. Wehrum testified that the EPA spends 'about $1 million a year' on its small business program. If true, this represents approximately two percent of the EPA’s budget for the Energy Star program. In addition, we are also troubled that, according to Mr. Wehrum, EPA currently is committed to staffing 'the equivalent of two employees' who are dedicated to ENERGY STAR’s Small Business program.

Small business is the engine that drives the American economy, employing half of all private sector employees, producing half of the nation’s non-farm private gross domestic product, and creating nearly three-quarters of all net new jobs each year. Some estimates project that small businesses also use approximately half of all commercial and industrial energy in this country.

Christopher Lynch, the Director of the Environmental Management Assistance Program for the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers, testified that small businesses can realistically implement measures to save between twenty and thirty percent of energy usage annually. Across the country, this would translate into reductions in carbon dioxide emissions of between 93 and 140 million tons per year, while potentially realizing an estimated combined savings for small businesses of up to $18 billion in annual energy costs.

The pennies saved on 25 million energy bills add up quickly -- but only if the small business owners paying those bills are encouraged to act. We believe that the time has come for small business to play a leading role in combating climate change and reducing our carbon footprint in the future.

To achieve these results, the Administration must play an active role in providing small businesses with the technical assistance and resources necessary to improve energy efficiency. We believe that a staff of just two employees and a bare-bones budget of $1 million is not an adequate commitment to America’s small businesses or to the nation’s fight against global warming.

We request that you provide the following within 30 days of receipt of this letter:
[1] A five-year history of EPA’s budget for the overall ENERGY STAR program, as well as for the Energy Star Small Business program;
[2] A detailed description of the services provided by the staff designated to administer the ENERGY STAR Small Business program, as well as a five-year history of staffing allocations for this program, specifying the identities of any and all EPA employees dedicated to the ENERGY STAR Small Business program; and
[3] Detailed estimates, broken down into readily understood terms, of overall energy use by U.S. small businesses, and of the potential savings that are possible through energy efficiency improvements by small businesses.

In conclusion, we believe that EPA’s ENERGY STAR for Small Business program deserves the full attention and support of a Federal government that believes small businesses can make a difference in the fight to stop global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Thank you for your attention to our request. Should you have any questions about the substance of the hearing, please do not hesitate to contact us directly, or to contact our staff.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry
Chairman

Olympia J. Snowe
Ranking Member


GoodBiz113's take: We applaud Sen. Kerry's and Sen. Snowe's bipartisan leadership in holding the Bush Administration, EPA and small businesses accountable for stopping global warming. We all need to do our fair share, and their efforts are significant first steps toward making that happen.

To learn about grass-roots efforts to help halt the climate-change crisis, go to StopGlobalWarming.org.
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