Representing the 13th Congressional District of Pennsylvania
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 8, 2009 |
CONTACT: Rachel Magnuson, 202-225-6111 |
| Philadelphia to Receive $14 Million in Federal Investment to Strengthen Energy Efficiency: U.S. Rep. Schwartz Applauds Vital Investment as Major Win |
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Known for her work in Congress to improve the energy efficiency of commercial and historic buildings, U.S. Rep. Schwartz (PA-13) applauded the funding announcement for Philadelphia, which is working to become the greenest city in America by 2015 through Mayor Michael Nutter’s “Greenworks” plan.
“Philadelphia is leading our nation on making smart investments that reduce energy consumption and make our communities more livable,” Rep. Schwartz said. “This funding will help further the city’s sustainability agenda and improve the quality of life for everyone.”
Philadelphia’s funding was provided through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG), which Rep. Schwartz voted to establish in 2007 for cities to make energy efficiency improvements, implement greenhouse gas reduction strategies, and create jobs.
According to the White House, specifically, “The funding that Philadelphia received will go to realize many elements of Greenworks Philadelphia, the city's sustainability strategy, which calls for a 30 percent reduction in municipal energy usage by 2015, while also promoting energy efficiency in sectors such as transportation and waste management. In addition, Philadelphia will employ grants and an innovative revolving loan program to incentivize the private-sector to invest in energy efficiency in ways that contribute to long-term regional economic prosperity. Philadelphia will devote $1 million of its EECBG funds to help implement energy audits and retrofits for municipal buildings that can help restore buildings to their optimum efficiency levels. Philadelphia will also match $3 million in EECBG funds to install 85,000 LED traffic signals that require far less energy than conventional bulbs and have significantly longer lifespans. Philadelphia will also partner with RecycleBank to implement an incentive-based recycling program that will encourage families to increase their rate of recycling and trash reduction rate. The city will also replace nearly 400 traditional wire litter baskets with 260 solar compacting litter baskets and 115 on-street recycling units. The compactors are self-powered and automatically compact the waste when the trash reaches a certain level. The program will need to provide schedule collection only twice a week, providing a significant reduction in the vehicle miles traveled by diesel powered trash trucks. EECBG funds will also support a set of grant programs in the city, including competitive matching grants to small businesses to incentivize the private sector to pursue energy efficient retrofits and funding to help commercialize nascent technologies and develop the infrastructure to support next-generation energy technologies. In addition, a revolving, sustainable loan program will offer blended loans and grants to owners of large-scale commercial and industrial property to provide affordable capital for efficiency retrofits. The program will focus on businesses that are trying to expand or attempting to maintain a facility that would otherwise be at risk of closure, with all interest earned through this program returned to the fund to sustain lending activity over the long term.” Source: White House
For more information about EECBG, visit www.eecbg.energy.gov <http://www.eecbg.energy.gov> .
For more information about Philadelphia’s sustainability efforts, visit http://www.phila.gov/green/greenworks/index.html <http://www.phila.gov/green/greenworks/index.html> .
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