Spiritual Forum

For Immediate Release
August 30, 2012
Executive Order -- Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency


EXECUTIVE ORDER

ACCELERATING INVESTMENT IN INDUSTRIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States of America, and in order to promote American
manufacturing by helping to facilitate investments in energy efficiency at
industrial facilities, it is hereby ordered as follows:

*Section 1. Policy.* The industrial sector accounts for over 30 percent of
all energy consumed in the United States, and, for many manufacturers,
energy costs affect overall competitiveness. While our manufacturing
facilities have made progress in becoming more energy efficient over the
past several decades, there is an opportunity to accelerate and expand
these efforts with investments to reduce energy use through more efficient
manufacturing processes and facilities and the expanded use of combined
heat and power (CHP). Instead of burning fuel in an on site boiler to
produce thermal energy and also purchasing electricity from the grid, a
manufacturing facility can use a CHP system to provide both types of energy
in one energy efficient step. Accelerating these investments in our
Nation's factories can improve the competitiveness of United States
manufacturing, lower energy costs, free up future capital for businesses to
invest, reduce air pollution, and create jobs.

Despite these benefits, independent studies have pointed to
under-investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP as a result of
numerous barriers. The Federal Government has limited but important
authorities to overcome these barriers, and our efforts to support
investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP should involve
coordinated engagement with a broad set of stakeholders, including States,
manufacturers, utilities, and others. By working with all stakeholders to
address these barriers, we have an opportunity to save industrial users
tens of billions of dollars in energy costs over the next decade.

There is no one size fits all solution for our manufacturers, so it is
imperative that we support these investments through a variety of
approaches, including encouraging private sector investment by setting
goals and highlighting the benefits of investment, improving coordination
at the Federal level, partnering with and supporting States, and
identifying investment models beneficial to the multiple stakeholders
involved.

To formalize and support the close interagency coordination that is
required to accelerate greater investment in industrial energy efficiency
and CHP, this order directs certain executive departments and agencies to
convene national and regional stakeholders to identify, develop, and
encourage the adoption of investment models and State best practice
policies for industrial energy efficiency and CHP; provide technical
assistance to States and manufacturers to encourage investment in
industrial energy efficiency and CHP; provide public information on the
benefits of investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP; and use
existing Federal authorities, programs, and policies to support investment
in industrial energy efficiency and CHP.

*Sec. 2. Encouraging Investment in Industrial Efficiency.* The Departments
of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection
Agency, in coordination with the National Economic Council, the Domestic
Policy Council, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of
Science and Technology Policy, shall coordinate policies to encourage
investment in industrial efficiency in order to reduce costs for industrial
users, improve U.S. competitiveness, create jobs, and reduce harmful air
pollution. In doing so, they shall engage States, industrial companies,
utility companies, and other stakeholders to accelerate this investment.
Specifically, these agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with
applicable law:

(a) coordinate and strongly encourage efforts to achieve a national goal of
deploying 40 gigawatts of new, cost effective industrial CHP in the United
States by the end of 2020;

(b) convene stakeholders, through a series of public workshops, to develop
and encourage the use of best practice State policies and investment models
that address the multiple barriers to investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP;

(c) utilize their respective relevant authorities and resources to
encourage investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP, such as by:

(i) providing assistance to States on accounting for the potential emission
reduction benefits of CHP and other energy efficiency policies when
developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to achieve national ambient
air quality standards;

(ii) providing incentives for the deployment of CHP and other types of
clean energy, such as set asides under emissions allowance trading program
state implementation plans, grants, and loans;

(iii) employing output based approaches as compliance options in power and
industrial sector regulations, as appropriate, to recognize the emissions
benefits of highly efficient energy generation technologies like CHP; and

(iv) seeking to expand participation in and create additional tools to
support the Better Buildings, Better Plants program at the Department of
Energy, which is working with companies to help them achieve a goal of
reducing energy intensity by 25 percent over 10 years, as well as utilizing
existing partnership programs to support energy efficiency and CHP;

(d) support and encourage efforts to accelerate investment in industrial
energy efficiency and CHP by:

(i) providing general guidance, technical analysis and information, and
financial analysis on the value of investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP to States, utilities, and owners and operators of
industrial facilities;

(ii) improving the usefulness of Federal data collection and analysis; and

(iii) assisting States in developing and implementing State specific best
practice policies that can accelerate investment in industrial energy
efficiency and CHP.

In implementing this section, these agencies should consult with the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as appropriate.

*Sec. 3. General Provisions.* (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the
head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities,
its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 30, 2012.

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/spirit_truths/