Dear Senator Portman and Senator Shaheen:

On behalf of Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with more than $7.3 trillion in annual revenues and nearly 16 million employees, I am writing to thank you for your leadership in drafting S. 761, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013, and offer our enthusiastic support for this important legislation. 

As we noted in our recently released comprehensive energy study, “Taking Action on Energy:  A CEO Vision for America’s Energy Future,” 

[e]nergy efficiency is a cornerstone of a successful energy policy. Cost-effective improvements in energy efficiency can boost economic growth by decreasing energy costs while increasing productivity and competitiveness; enhance energy security by reducing domestic energy consumption and lessening our exposure to disruptions in global energy markets; and protect human health and the environment by curtailing the release of criteria pollutants, GHGs and other emissions. 

Your legislation recognizes the essential role greater energy efficiency must play within a comprehensive energy policy.  The legislation would help strengthen and continuously improve national model building codes; encourage better enforcement of existing building codes; help train the next generation of workers in energy efficient commercial building design; establish public-private partnerships to help foster industrial energy efficiency; establish a new initiative to help improve supply-chain efficiency;  and make needed improvements to encourage greater efficiency by the federal government, the largest single consumer of energy in the United States.

Improving energy efficiency often is not doing one big thing but rather doing many smaller things better.  By addressing residential and commercial buildings, federal facilities, and industrial processes; promoting public-private partnerships; and providing seed money for state and local government efforts, your bill will help build on the progress we have made in the past several decades toward using energy more wisely.  We strongly support your bill and look forward to working with you as it proceeds through the legislative process. 

Sincerely,

Dave Cote
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Honeywell
Chairman, Energy and Environment Committee, Business Roundtable