For several years, ENERGY STAR has seen continued budget cuts to its Energy Efficiency Program. On ENERGY STAR Day 2020 the organization said, “Since its founding in 1992, this private-public partnership has proven to be one of the nation’s most effective methods of keeping consumer energy costs low while slashing emissions. In fact, each year, ENERGY STAR saves American families more than $35 billion in energy costs, achieves 330 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions (5% of the nation’s total emissions), and supports more than 725,000 domestic jobs. Despite this impressive record, ENERGY STAR’s budget has actually decreased in recent years, from $54 million a decade ago to $39 million today.” A congressional writing campaign that AASHE participated in was launched to encourage Congress to fully fund ENERGY STAR and transform the U.S. energy system for decades to come.
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