The House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucuses, the Sustainable Energy Coalition, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) will hold a Capitol Hill briefing next week to address near-term energy efficiency and renewable energy alternatives that could help to head off a potential natural gas supply crisis.

The briefing is scheduled for July 14 at 2-3:30 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

“If aggressively pursued, energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives can reduce natural gas consumption by more than 10%, and unlike their supply-side counterparts, can be implemented in the near term (6-24 months),” said the Sustainable Energy Coalition, a broad-based group that has long advocated efficiency and renewable technologies.

Scheduled to appear at the briefing are Bill Prindle, deputy director of the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy; Mark Hopkins, acting co-president of The Alliance to Save Energy; Jennifer Schafer, president of Cascade Associates; Alan Nogee, program director of the Clean Energy Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists; and Scott Sklar, president of Stella Group Ltd.

“A ‘silver-bullet’ solution to the natural gas crisis does not exist; yet the advantages that energy efficiency and renewable energy can offer are numerous,” including reduced dependence on foreign energy imports, greater environmental protection and shorter lead times, according to the coalition’s press statement.

For more information about the briefing, contract J.R. Drabick at EESI at (202) 662-1886 or at jrdrabick@eesi.org.

©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.