BOMA Call on Congress to Fund Energy Star

On behalf of John Boling, Vice President of Advocacy and Building Codes for BOMA International:

As you are aware, the Administration has targeted the Energy Star program for termination. The program, first authorized by the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, specifically stood up in the 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005, and then referenced in the 2015 Energy Efficiency Act of 2015, in our opinion, must be de-authorized through legislation to truly eliminate the program.  

While targeting the program for defunding, as the administration has done, would end program operations, but place it in a sort of bureaucratic stasis - not functioning, but still on the books.  Long-term, that may be an important distinction.  Regardless, we are focused on the short-term and are working the appropriations process to ensure the program has funding.    

BOMA International has partnered with the Real Estate Roundtable on numerous letters to Congress outlining the benefits of this important program and to showcase the breadth of support the program has earned.  In addition to the Attached Letter, who we sent to everyone on the committees listed, Mary Lue Peck and I are tentatively scheduled to attend an event with the chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Mike Simpson, to cut through the noise and bring our message straight to him. BOMA staff will be participating in the upcoming High Performance Building Coalition week on Capitol Hill and meeting with key Representatives and Senators on this issue and others important to the sector. Individually, we will be strategically reaching out to various Members of Congress who need to hear from us directly. We have also reached out to a few BAE's who have members of the aforementioned subcommittee in their areas asking for them to reach out via an email message and to attach the BOMA letter.  If unforeseen opportunities arise, we will take them.