By Joy Clarke-Holmes, Johnson Controls, Inc.

In his confirmation hearings, former U.S. Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) – President Obama’s pick for interior secretary – said one of his responsibilities will be helping the new administration craft the “energy moon shot we will take.”

Salazar’s reference to America’s successful initiative to put a man on the moon in the 1960’s– an initiative envisioned by another young and popular president – is, to say the least, very encouraging. A moon shot-type effort is precisely what’s needed to rebuild our economy, break our dependence on foreign oil and avoid catastrophic global climate change.

And we need to get it off the launch pad right now. The new administration and lawmakers must act immediately to adopt and implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009, currently before Congress. The act includes key provisions to put people back to work and put us on a fast track to a clean energy future. Among them:

• $11 billion to modernize our electricity grid
• $8 billion in loans for renewable energy projects
• $6 billion to make federal buildings more energy efficient
• $6.9 billion to help state and local governments improve energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions
• $2.5 billion to increase energy efficiency in public housing units
• $1.5 billion for grants and loans to school districts, universities and other institutions for energy efficiency initiatives
  
• $2 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy R & D
• $2 billion for loans and grants to support U.S. manufacturers developing advanced battery systems for next generation vehicles
  

These investments will transform our economy, our energy infrastructure and our workforce. And the sooner we start investing, the better. But where to spend all this money?

Recently, a senior economist at a respected university questioned whether there are enough “shovel ready” energy efficiency and renewable energy projects around the country to make an immediate impact. The answer is a resounding “yes!”

Businesses and organizations of every kind – federal agencies and facilities, state and local governments, local school districts, public and private colleges and universities, manufacturing, retail, industrial, you name it – are way beyond eager to get going on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. To list just a few projects we’ve recently completed here at Johnson Controls:

• Installation of a solar PV system on a parking structure at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. The system generates more than 20,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year, and avoids emission of more than 28,000 pounds of CO2.
• In East Hartford, Connecticut, installation of energy efficiency measures in 18 school and municipal buildings. The measures will save taxpayers more than $500,000 annually, make them eligible to receive more than $700,000 in utility incentives, save the amount of energy needed to power more than 400 homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 677 cars from the roads or planting 943 trees.
• Completed energy efficiency upgrades to key county government facilities in Peoria, Illinois that will generate more than $1 million in savings.

I could list many, many more, but the point is this: there are plenty of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that could begin immediately.

In fact, the U.S. Conference of Mayors just released a list of 18,750 “ready-to-go” jobs and infrastructure projects in 779 cities nationwide. 1,378 of these projects are related to “Energy Block Grants and Green Jobs” – from street light retrofits in Anchorage, Alaska to a wind turbine to power wastewater treatment in Marbleton, Wyoming. The projects can start early this year and be completed in 2010 if funding is provided.

Best of all, many energy efficiency and renewable energy projects can be financed through performance contracting – meaning they pay for themselves through the energy savings they produce. And every single one of them will help create and sustain jobs, have a positive impact on our economy, help increase our energy independence, lower greenhouse gas emissions and upgrade our nation’s critical public and private infrastructure: the schools where we teach our children and the buildings where we conduct the people’s business.

T minus today and counting! Efficiency now!

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