New England Energy Congress project. Final report, June 1978-July 1980

• Main Author: None
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: 29 ENERGY PLANNING; POLICY AND ECONOMY; ENERGY POLICY; PUBLIC OPINION; RECOMMENDATIONS; NORTH ATLANTIC REGION; ENERGY CONSERVATION; DECISION MAKING; IMPLEMENTATION; LEGISLATION; GOVERNMENT POLICIES; NORTH AMERICA; USA; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5744990; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5744990; https://doi.org/10.2172/5744990

From May 1978 until April 1979, 120 New Englanders volunteered for one of six committees to devise and consider energy policy recommendations for the region's twenty-five Member, six state Congressional delegation. Sponsored by the New England Congressional Caucus and Tufts University, the New England Energy Congress was funded by grants from the Economic Development Administration, US Department of Commerce and the Office of Environment, US Department of Energy. The results of the work of the 120 delegates and nine staff was a 500 page report, Blueprint for Energy Action, containing over 150 policy recommendations to the Congress, Executive agencies, state legislatures and municipalities. The New England Congressional Caucus responded in June 1979 with an Energy Package, including twenty (and ultimately twenty-five) legislative bills and several letters to federal agencies, based on the recommendations of the Energy Congress. Following the release of the report in June 1979, 55 delegates continued their efforts as members of the Implementation Group of the Energy Congress. In July 1980, this group released a volume of Strategy Papers designed to assist in the implementation of Energy Congress recommendations. As a result of this work, a broad array of energy activities were initiated in New England and in Washington. By January 1981, 20 of the 25 bills in the Caucus package had been passed in whole or in part. This final report discusses the Energy Congress' activities, consensus decision-making process and its findings. The report reviews the results of a thorough evaluation conducted through the mail and by phone of participants, outside observers and from Capital Hill. The clear conclusion is that the Energy Congress made a unique and significant contribution towards enabling New Englanders, both in the region and in Washington, to set energy goals and priorities and to begin serious efforts to reduce the region's precarious dependence on oil imports.