The BlueGreen Alliance Foundation has released its latest report, “Energy Efficiency Should be Made in the United States,” which highlights the decline in U.S. manufacturing of energy efficiency products. According to the report, since 2007, the percentage of energy-efficient products that were produced domestically and used in the U.S. dropped from 84% to 79%. Data suggests that the industries with the largest declines are appliances and HVAC systems. The report proposes that this decline could affect jobs throughout the industrial and manufacturing sector, as well as economically impact the entire supply chain. In addition to shining a light on potential problems, the report authors suggest policies to pair energy efficiency investment with incentives for domestically produced products.
In an excerpt from the report, the authors write: “There are opportunities to do even more. The Buy America, Build America Act (BABA) was passed as part of the BIL. It strengthens domestic content requirement for infrastructure spending, but risks leaving out many federally funded energy efficiency projects. Federal agencies should use the discretion available to them to ensure that as much energy efficiency spending as possible is covered by BABA, and state and local governments tasked with allocating federal funds should offer incentives for the use of domestic retrofit products. Additionally, Congress and the administration should follow up on their recent direct investments in heat pump manufacturing with advanced market commitments and support from the Export-Import Bank and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Program Office. Finally, the government should ensure that companies receiving federal support are committed to supporting their workers and communities by following recommendations from the BlueGreen Alliance’s Checklist for Federal Funding Applications.