Chicago Joins President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge to Reduce Energy Use and Save Money

Chicago Joins President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge to Reduce Energy Use and Save Money | Department of Energy Skip to main content Energy.gov Find information about your town or city. Search form Search Energy.gov Public ServicesTax Credits, Rebates & SavingsHomesVehiclesBuilding DesignManufacturingNational Security & SafetyEnergy EconomyFunding OpportunitiesState & Local GovernmentScience & InnovationScience & TechnologyScience EducationInnovationEnergy SourcesEnergy UsageEnergy EfficiencyMissionNews & BlogMaps & DataAbout UsFor Staff & ContractorsOfficesAll OfficesProgram OfficesStaff OfficesLabs & Technology CentersField SitesPower Marketing AdministrationOther Agencies You are hereHome Chicago Joins President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge to Reduce Energy Use and Save Money June 5, 2012 - 2:26pm Addthis NEWS MEDIA CONTACT(202) 586-4940

CHICAGO  – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel at an event in Chicago today to announce that the city is joining the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge, part of the initiative launched last year by President Obama to catalyze investment in commercial and industrial building energy upgrades and support new jobs across the country.  As a partner in this national initiative, Chicago is committing to reduce energy use by 20 percent across nearly 24 million square feet of public and private building space within the next five years. The Better Buildings Challenge supports the Obama Administration's  blueprint for an economy built to last, reducing energy costs in buildings – which last year consumed more than 40 percent of all the energy used by the U.S. economy – while boosting American competitiveness in the global clean energy race.

“Investments in energy efficiency are making the American economy more competitive by creating jobs, growing industries, reducing energy bills for families and businesses, and protecting our air and water,” said Secretary Chu. “By joining the Better Buildings Challenge, Chicago is not only leading by example, but is also better positioning the city in the global economy by saving millions in energy costs.”

At the event in Chicago, Secretary Chu and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel made the announcement and highlighted the building owners in downtown Chicago that are stepping up to meet the Better Buildings Challenge.  Chicago plans to upgrade 10 million square feet of City-owned buildings and nearly 14 million square feet of privately owned buildings that have partnered with the City.  The City of Chicago and its partners will share their most successful energy-saving strategies and solutions so that others can follow.

The energy to operate the buildings in which we work, shop, and study costs the U.S. approximately $200 billion annually. By taking steps to be energy-efficient, buildings and manufacturing plants nationwide can reduce their energy use by more than 20 percent. The goal of the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge is to encourage building upgrades that will make America’s buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade, reducing energy costs for American businesses and local governments by more than $40 billion. 

The Better Buildings Challenge is a national leadership initiative launched by President Obama in December 2011 that calls on chief executive officers, university presidents, and state and local leaders to reduce their portfolio-wide energy use by 20 percent by 2020 and to share the results of their energy reduction strategies. To date, the more than 60 organizations partnering with the Energy Department for the Better Buildings Challenge have committed to improve the energy efficiency of more than 1.6 billion square feet of building space, in addition to reducing energy waste across more than 300 manufacturing facilities and committing nearly $2 billion in energy efficiency financing.  For more information please visit the BetterBuildings Challenge website.  

Addthis Related Articles Chicago Joins Better Buildings Initiative Secretary Chu and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Make Energy Efficiency Announcement City of Houston Joins Better Buildings Challenge, Partners with Energy Department to Reduce Energy Waste and Boost Efficiency What We Do For You Energy EconomyEnergy Economy InnovationInnovation Nuclear Security & SafetyNuclear Security & Safety Energy.gov Careers & InternshipsContact UsEmail Updates Popular Topics SavingsHeating & CoolingIndustrial Heating & CoolingSolarHome WeatherizationAppliances & ElectronicsAbout this siteWeb PoliciesPrivacyNo Fear ActInformation QualityOpen GovEnergy DepartmentBudget & PerformanceDirectives, Delegations & RequirementsFOIAInspector GeneralPrivacy ProgramSmall BusinessFederal GovernmentThe White HouseUSA.gov

1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
202-586-5000

Top Senate Republican joins push to stop earmarks - The Associated Press

Top Senate Republican joins push to stop earmarks(AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' most unapologetic fan of big-money politics is backing a ban on pork-barrel earmarks and avoiding an early battle with conservatives in his own party who had threatened to force a vote on the matter.

But the switch by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell may not have averted an effort to put senators on the record for or against earmarks. Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, long an opponent of earmarks, said Tuesday she would join Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in trying to force a vote on extending the ban on the practice through 2013.

Such a vote would put senators of both parties on the spot. Asked whether she was concerned that Democrats would look out-of-touch if they tried to stand in the way, McCaskill replied, "Yes."

"I'm glad that Republican leadership is coming around to this idea," she said. "Now, it's my Democratic colleagues turn to get on board."

It was unclear whether they would.

The debate over earmarks, intensified by the midterm campaign season, gripped Congress virtually from the moment lawmakers returned this week to finish left-over business.

In his first remarks of the lame-duck session, McConnell long a defender of designating money for home-state projects, said he was heeding the message sent by voters so distrustful of government that they swept Democrats from power in the House. McConnell said the abuse of the earmarking system turned it into a symbol of government waste that Republicans do oppose.

"Old habits aren't easy to break," McConnell, the Senate minority leader, noted.

But he and other earmark proponents were under pressure to acknowledge the tea party-fueled public anger over government spending and "back-room deals" in Congress.

Just hours before McConnell spoke, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., promoted the ban on remarks to tea party activists at a Capitol rally, saying he was forcing a vote to see whether entrenched Senate veterans have "gotten the message."

On Tuesday, he complimented McConnell for changing his position, telling CBS's "The Early Show" that he's pleased McConnell listened not only to other GOP lawmakers but also to the voters.

DeMint called it a "culture change," which he said has long been overdue in Washington.

House Republicans already are moving to extend their moratorium on earmarks, and President Barack Obama has said he supports a crackdown on the practice.

"We can't stop with earmarks as they represent only part of the problem," Obama said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans to not only end earmark spending, but to find other ways to bring down our deficits for our children."

Earmarking is the longtime Washington practice in which lawmakers insert money for home-state projects like road and bridge work into spending bills. Critics say that peppering most spending bills with hundreds or even thousands of such projects creates a go-along-get-along mindset that ensures that Washington spending goes unchecked.

McConnell, a 26-year veteran of the Senate and longtime member of the Appropriations Committee, had argued in the past that banning earmarks would shift too much power to Obama and wouldn't save taxpayers any money.

"I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don't apologize for them," he said.

McConnell's move also forestalls a possible fight with the House, where Speaker-to-be John Boehner, R-Ohio, poised to become the most powerful Republican in Washington, had put people on notice that there won't be any earmarks in spending bills.

The developments took Senate Democrats, who remain the majority party in the chamber, by surprise, and top Democrats said they stand by the practice. A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, freshly re-elected after a campaign in which he boasted of his ability to bring home the bacon to Nevada, said Reid believes it's up to each senator to decide whether he or she will seek earmarks.

"From delivering $100 million in military projects for Nevada to funding education and public transportation projects in the state, Sen. Reid makes no apologies for delivering for the people of Nevada," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. "He will always fight to ensure the state's needs are met."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

View the original article here