Embracing Energy Efficiency for Communities of Color

With the 2010 mid-term elections tipping the congressional scale in the House toward the Republicans, lawmakers in Washington may well spend the next 2 years in perpetual gridlock over spending priorities designed to put Americans back to work.

Many Conservatives view the mid-term elections as a referendum on the progressive energy agenda to create a clean energy economy that will generate thousands of new jobs and lay the foundation for sustainable economic growth.  Members of both parties have acknowledged that a major factor in the outcome of the mid-term elections was Americans’ frustration with what was viewed as the slow pace in which the Administration’s promises are being delivered. Undoubtedly, many of those frustrated Americans are Blacks and Latinos living in low-income communities who are struggling to stay afloat amid this economic downturn.

If lawmakers in Washington are serious about addressing the needs of Americans living in poverty, they would do well to take a serious look at energy efficiency as a major component of any energy policy to be drafted in Congress over the next 2 years. Making homes more energy efficient is a low-cost, high-return investment that puts money back into the pockets of families across the country.

National energy policy over the past decade has primarily addressed increasing domestic energy supplies of oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power. According to a report, Reliable, Affordable, and Environmentally Sound Energy for America’s Future by the National Energy Policy Development Group, in 2000, 2% of U.S. electricity generation came from renewable sources. In the first six months of 2010, there was an increase of 9.14% in the domestically produced electricity derived from renewable sources.  While this increase in renewable energy sources positively impacts the health of Black and Latino low-income communities from an environmental perspective, economic and social benefits remain elusive.

American families depend on affordable energy for their health, safety, and livelihood and many families have already felt the strain of rising energy prices. The energy burden on low-income households, as a proportion of income, is four times greater than other households. The burden in many Black and Latino communities across the country is compounded by unemployment rates that have climbed beyond 30% in places like Washington, D.C., Michigan and Nevada in an U.S. economy that has shed 7.5 million jobs since December of 2007.

The average American household pays about 3.6% of their overall income on home energy versus low-income households which pay 16%, a disproportionate percentage of their income. We have an opportunity to fulfill a moral responsibility by helping to cut the energy bills of people who may have to make a decision to buy groceries or pay their energy bill this winter.

As stated in Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America’s 2004 report, Record Prices, Record Oil Company Profits, American families have been hit by an average $1,000 increase in their annual household energy bills since 2000, draining more than $500 billion from the economy. Every time energy prices rise, families have fewer dollars available to meet their needs, particularly in a tough economic climate. Low-income households that are living at or below the poverty level generally find it more difficult to make rapid adjustments to energy price increases.

An energy policy that includes government-backed tax incentives for weatherization programs that provide insulation, duct system improvements, furnace upgrades, and other cost-effective, energy-saving improvements based on their energy needs is critical to help jump start the economy and create jobs for workers to perform retrofit work. The value-added benefits are the additional economic, environmental, health, and safety benefits associated with the installations and resulting home improvements. This makes energy efficiency a win-win proposition.

If lawmakers are still not convinced of the promise of energy efficiency, it should be noted that energy efficiency not only benefits people living in low-income communities, but also a multitude of environmentally astute Americans who walk, carpool, or drive their energy efficient vehicles to their nearest polling station to cast their votes. Simply stated, energy efficiency puts money back into the pockets of those who are voting based on the temperature of their current economic thermostat.
Back in Washington, Republicans like Michigan’s Fred Upton, Florida’s Cliff Stearns and Illinois’s John Shimkus are vying for control of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which strongly influences the direction of our national energy policy.

Conservative leadership should be cognizant that energy programs that benefit minorities living in low-income communities helps demonstrate sensitivity towards Black and Latinos, who make up a valuable swath of the electorate. The GOP has been striving to demonstrate inclusiveness since the election of Barack Obama.

Far from the squabbles on Capitol Hill, Blacks and Latinos living in low-income communities continue to face unfavorable economic conditions that include paying a hefty percentage of their income on rising energy costs.

Rhon Hayes is the cofounder of GREEN DMV. GREEN DMV promotes clean energy and green jobs in low-income communities as a pathway out of poverty.

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