Action: Support Green Buildings on Earth Day

Legislative Action Message

Action: Support Green Buildings on Earth Day Printer-friendly version of this alert Read this alert online at: http://www.fcnl.org/action/2007/lam0419.htm Take Action: Urge your senators to support H.R. 550 Where do we consume the most energy? In our homes and buildings. Our homes and other buildings use more energy than either our cars or big factories. Buildings use more than 70 percent of all electricity generated in the United States. We in the U.S. produce almost as many global warming greenhouse gas emissions from our homes and buildings as the entire economies of Japan, France, and the United Kingdom combined. Earth Day is an opportunity to focus attention on the practical, effective federal policies that could reduce U.S. energy consumption dramatically. FCNL’s new energy-efficient green building shows what can be done to turn two rickety, old, Civil War-era buildings into an energy-efficient, high-performance, green building. New buildings today can do even better when they are designed and built with current technologies for zero-net energy consumption. Our country can and must move toward a new era of energy-efficient, green building renovation, strengthened energy-efficiency standards for appliances, and zero net energy building design and construction standards for new buildings. Key House committees will be preparing legislation to promote energy-efficient, green buildings in May. You can help support effective energy-efficient, green building legislation by encouraging your representative to cosponsor the bills below. Take Action This Earth Day please contact your representative. Urge her or him to cosponsor the “Securing America’s Energy Independence Act of 2007" (HR 550). This legislation, introduced by Rep. Michael McNulty (NY), would extend tax credit incentives for solar energy, fuel cells, and energy-efficiency improvements for homes and buildings. Got a little more time? Ask your representative to cosponsor two other important pieces of legislation that should be part of any comprehensive energy conservation effort: The “High-Performance Green Buildings Act of 2007” (HR 121) and the “Extend the Energy Efficiency Incentives Act of 2007" (HR 1385). As part of your lobbying, urge your representative to contact FCNL for a tour of FCNL’s newly renovated building on Capitol Hill – to see what is possible and affordable today. Background More background on green buildings Download a copy of FCNL’s Earth Day Flyer ( PDF) and distribute it at your meeting, church, or in your community. ________________________________________ Contact Congress and the administration. Order FCNL publications and "War is Not the Answer" campaign bumper stickers and yard signs. Contribute to FCNL. Subscribe or update your information to this list. Subscribe to other FCNL legislative, policy, and action alert lists. ________________________________________ Friends Committee on National Legislation 245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795 fcnl@fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.org phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330 We seek a world free of war and the threat of war We seek a society with equity and justice for all We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled We seek an earth restored.