On May 13th, EnergyLink attended LEAD (Lawmaker Education and Advocacy Day). We joined more than 300 companies including Dow, DSM North America, General Mills, Indigo Ag, JLL, Microsoft, Salesforce and VISA, among others, to call on a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers to build back a better economy by infusing resilient, long-term climate solutions into future economic recovery plans. Caelan Gander, Business Development Associate, joined on behalf of EnergyLink.
What is LEAD?
LEAD on Climate 2020 is the largest ever virtual call to action from the business community on the ongoing climate crisis and the largest coordinated effort on the issue since the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the U.S. The participating companies collectively represent combined annual revenues of more than $900 billion in revenue, a combined market valuation of nearly $11.3 trillion, and more than 2.5 million U.S. employees.
Why is EnergyLink Calling for Climate Action?
The companies calling for climate action as part of economic recovery efforts span across the American economy, including retail giants, manufacturers, healthcare services, food and beverage companies, outdoor industries, technology companies, and energy providers. According to Gander, EnegeryLink’s participation in LEAD 2020 is crucial for our company’s mission.
“At EnergyLink, it is essential for us to be able to source funding such as Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, rebates, and grants. We need to keep these programs alive, as they are instrumental in helping organizations recover from COVID-19 through cash-flow positive energy efficiency projects.”
What Actions Will Come from LEAD?
Building off last year’s LEAD on Carbon Pricing in-person event, which brought together 75 companies, this year’s virtual meetings feature three times as many companies and have greatly expanded the scope for strong and urgent climate action from Congress. Companies will urge House and Senate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to weigh in as Congress considers how future rounds of economic recovery spending should be allocated.
Participating companies will stress the continued importance of investment in resilient infrastructure and the need to put Americans back to work with durable, clean energy jobs, and will call for Congress to consider longer-term sustainable solutions to strengthen the economy, such as a goal of reaching net-zero emissions economy by 2050 or sooner, as well as other policy mechanisms, like a price on carbon.
Why Is This Policy Engagement so Timely?
This increased corporate policy engagement comes at a time when the consequences of the climate crisis have never been clearer or more dire. Last year, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were at their highest levels in at least the last 800,000 years, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently found that the last decade was the hottest on record. That is why, even amidst the current pandemic, EnergyLink is moving ahead with efforts to reduce emissions in our own operations and calling on Congress to take climate action as part of the economic recovery process.
For More Information
For more information on our mission at EnergyLink and our commitment to climate change, contact us!
