Washington (Platts)--21Apr2008

The National Association of Manufacturers and the US Environmental
Protection Agency signed an agreement Monday that calls for manufacturers to
voluntarily cut their energy use by 10%.
If adopted across the manufacturing sector, the campaign would save
nearly $10.4 billion and enough energy to power nearly 10 million homes for
one year, NAM said.
"The NAM has the potential to reach more than 100,000 corporations, both
large and small," said the association's president, John Engler, who joined
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson in unveiling the initiative one day before
Earth Day.
Under the memorandum of understanding, EPA's Energy Star Challenge will
help NAM members develop and improve company-wide energy management programs
and share best-energy practices, the association said. The Energy Star
Challenge is a voluntary program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through
energy efficiency.
NAM, one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, prefers voluntary
measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The association has called for
the defeat of a bill set for a US Senate vote in June that would establish a
mandatory cap-and-trade program for emissions.
The agreement with EPA follows one that NAM signed with the US Department
of Energy in 2007 to help manufacturers cut energy costs.
--Bill Loveless, bill_loveless@platts.com