FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 14, 2012
CONTACT: Ian Koski at 202-224-4216

Senator Coons joins Alliance to Save Energy board as congressional vice chair

Looks forward to advancing smart energy efficiency policies to strengthen America’s economy

WASHINGTON – At a board meeting of the Alliance to Save Energy Thursday in Washington, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) was announced as one of the organization’s congressional vice chairs. In this role, Senator Coons will help educate fellow board members and the public as well as work to advance legislative energy efficiency priorities.

“I am deeply honored to join the Alliance to Save Energy’s board of directors and look forward to working together to move our country’s energy efficiency policies forward,” Senator Coons said. “Energy efficiency has enormous potential that can change our future, our environmental footprint, our technology, and the country our children and grandchildren will inherit from us. It will create new jobs and new industries and will strengthen our standing with foreign competitors.”

The Alliance to Save Energy is a nonprofit organization that promotes energy efficiency, and its board of directors is comprised of members of Congress, corporate CEOs and nonprofit leaders. In addition to Senator Coons, Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) begins his term as a vice-chair today.

Senator Coons, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has extensive experience in energy efficiency policy. Prior to his public service, he worked in the private sector and was appointed by then-Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner to the Governor’s Energy Taskforce, where he chaired the Conservation and Efficiency Working Group.  As New Castle County Executive, Senator Coons found savings by improving energy efficiency at county buildings and implemented an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.

In the U.S. Senate, Senator Coons has been an outspoken leader on energy efficiency, advocating for a number of strong measures, including the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, sponsored by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Senator Portman. This bipartisan legislation would increase the use of energy efficiency technologies in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors of our economy, while fostering job creation.

“We are at a critical moment, and if America is going to lead, we have to work together to set a long-term strategy that moves us toward an efficient, clean energy economy,” Senator Coons said. “Energy efficiency is one of the smartest, strongest ways that we can see progress in the country. It should be the one thing that allows us to bridge all of the competing interests and concerns because it promotes energy independence and American employment.”

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