Update on LD 2179 - energy efficiency standards for new homes and buildings

Last Thursday, February 28th was a busy day in Augusta; the list of bills being heard was almost too long to keep track of! A few of NRCM’s priority bills were all scheduled for hearings at the same time: LD 2179 energy efficient building codes, LD 2048 toxic toys, LD 2126 no coal, and a few others we are keeping our eyes on.

I spent the afternoon in the Business, Research and Economic Development (BRED) Committee room which was hearing the building codes bill, but the Natural Resources Committee room was also buzzing with activity. The hearing on efficient building codes went quite well, with the number of bill supporters far outweighing the two opponents (who said that they support uniform energy codes but felt the Legislature should slow down in addressing this issue.)

The legislators heard excellent testimony from a much larger number of supporters including Ashley Richards, Vice President of the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of Maine; Maureen Drouin representing the Maine League of Conservation Voters and the members of the Environmental Priorities Coalition, and NRCM’s own Dylan Voorhees.

Unfortunately, the Committee had to leave early to head over to Appropriations which left a few supporters still waiting in line to speak. They’ll be able to testify when the Committee holds a public hearing on the State Planning Office’s building code reform bill, likely to be held on March 18th (we’ll keep you posted). In the next couple of weeks it’s important that the BRED Committee, a few members of which were absent from the hearing, continues to hear from their constituents like you, urging them to support LD 2179! You can find out more about the bill here – then call and leave them a message at the State House!

Sara Lovitz
Clean Energy Project Outreach Coordinator

Comments

[Suze]

Great energy update, but I'm with Marcia. No "insider story" about the alewive hearing?

[Marcia]

Thanks for the update. How about something about the alewives - isn't this one of the NRCM's major bills?