In His Second Bill, Crow Promotes Energy Efficiency

Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06) introduced his second bill this month, the Saving Americans Value through Efficient Energy Act (the "SAVE Energy Act") to promote energy efficiency among consumers. The bill provides homeowners with a tax credit upwards of $500 for investing in energy efficient improvements such as better windows, doors, roofing, insulation, and HVAC systems.

Crow's bill follows Colorado's lead in making energy efficiency a priority by permanently enacting the tax credit into the IRS code. In 2007, Colorado passed a law that required energy companies to create financial incentives for consumers to invest in energy efficient technology. The law is estimated to have created over $1 billion in economic revenue for the state and today 30,000 Coloradans work in the energy efficiency field.

"Climate change is a crisis for our planet and rising energy cost are a crisis for our community. We can address both of these with the SAVE Energy Act, a commonsense measure that reduces energy consumption and saves Americans billions of dollars. If we want people to enact broad reaching change, then the first place we should look to make a positive difference is in their pocketbook," said Crow. "You don't have to look any further than Colorado to see the impact bills like these can make. This bill is good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for families. It is as simple as that."

Energy consumption continues to be a major problem in the United States with homes accounting for nearly 25% of the total energy usage. In 2015, under a prior iteration of the tax credit, American taxpayers who invested in energy efficiency technology claimed more than $1.6 billion in credits and with Crow's new bill, it is estimated that it would lead to an overall reduction in household energy costs by $13 billion by 2050.

Crow's first bill, the End Dark Money Act, helps crack down on dark money organizations by helping to close the loophole that allows mega-donors to hide their political contributions through so-called "social welfare" organizations. The bill passed the House earlier this month as part of H.R. 1, the For the People Act.