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Senate Energy Bill Prompts Action

By Daniel Stouffer

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 25Jul2010 Word count: 615 Viewed: 307 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

After months of political wrangling, Senators Kerry and Lieberman issued their version of a Senate energy bill, just as the country was trying to get to grips with the massive oil spill caused by the offshore oil rig fire. Energy and energy efficiency are certainly front and center in the news these days and this is causing organizations large and small to look at their consumption and find out how they may become more sustainable.

In short, the Senate energy bill is prompting action around the country. The American Power Act is a Senate alternative to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the House of Representatives in 2009. As part of the Senate proposal, thousands of power-hungry industrial facilities, power plants and refineries will have to pay fees in order to produce carbon dioxide, as part of the law to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

After months of political wrangling, Senators Kerry and Lieberman issued their version of a Senate energy bill, just as the country was trying to get to grips with the massive oil spill caused by the offshore oil rig fire. Energy and energy efficiency are certainly front and center in the news these days and this is causing organizations large and small to look at their consumption and find out how they may become more sustainable.

Greenhouse gas emissions are known to cause damage to our environment and to cause an overall warming of the Earth's atmosphere. President Obama is committed to reducing these emissions by 80% through the year 2050, although this will be greatly dependent on whatever legislation Congress is able to push through and whether the American Power Act could be the vehicle to promote this legislation during late 2010 or early 2011.

Whether companies are directly affected by the new "cap and trade" program to restrict greenhouse gas emissions among those power hungry organizations, they will undoubtedly be affected by the increase in the cost of utilities. The Senate may implement rebates to individual consumers, to shield them from the effects, but commercial organizations now realize that their costs could rise as a direct result. Now, more than ever, they must implement a plan to become more sustainable.

Each organization should have an energy plan and know exactly how much energy it needs to use in order to function correctly. Each asset within the organization's control should be analyzed to see whether it is efficient or not and systems should be implemented to track and monitor energy use and consequent carbon emissions. Few people doubt that legislation of some kind will be implemented, as after all, international consensus is calling for emissions control.

The Senate energy bill plans to commence emission reduction efforts in 2013 and accelerate the results through 2050. The Senate may differ from the House of Representatives, who in turn may differ from the administration's position. However, there are calls from most sectors of society for change and a renewed push for more energy investment, especially as a consequence of the disastrous oil spill.

While many organizations are choosing to become as sustainable as possible and gearing up their entire operations to ensure energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction, still others are awakening to the concept of pure cost-saving through energy efficiency. In the wake of the recession there may be some resistance to the thought of adding to the cost of electricity through a carbon tax of some kind or other, but nobody argues that the bottom line could be bolstered through an approach to efficiency across the board.

The Senate energy bill is a major legislative consideration during the second half of 2010 and business leaders must comprehend the movement and understand how it may impact their futures.

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