Ada Recinos, Deputy Press Secretary, ada.recinos@sierraclub.org (Pacific Time)
WASHINGTON, DC – Sierra Club strongly supports the initiative by the Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO) to update its Decarbonization Roadmap, a guide to the technologies and processes that manufacturers in the United States have to adopt to help reach the country’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. In submitting comments to assist with this effort, Sierra Club encourages IEDO to not forget the human element of this transition. These include prioritizing the adoption of technologies that not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also toxic releases, helping communities and local workers participate in making decisions around technology deployment, and facilitating the sharing of knowledge between innovators.
“The Department of Energy has the opportunity to ensure that clean manufacturing investments deliver public benefits that support healthy communities, good green jobs, and a stable climate. We encourage the Department to prioritize technologies that maximize health-harming pollution reductions and use its upcoming roadmap, Pathways for U.S. Industrial Transformations: Unlocking American Innovation, as an opportunity to scale up its own infrastructure for ensuring robust community engagement,” said Iliana Paul, Deputy Director of Sierra Club’s Industrial Transformation Campaign.
“We are deeply encouraged by the Department of Energy’s continued support in ushering in cleaner manufacturing. Even since the publication of the last Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap from the Department of Energy in 2021, the successful demonstration of key technologies in the steel, aluminum, cement, and other sectors with the help of public funding have accelerated the pace of change. The new Roadmap should reflect these changes and reach for more ambitious targets,” said Yong Kwon, Senior Advisor of Sierra Club’s Industrial Transformation Campaign.
In its comments, Sierra Club’s Industrial Transformation Campaign made the following recommendations:
- To meet Biden Administration goals on environmental justice and to build support from fenceline and frontline communities, IEDO should push industry to prioritize emissions reductions equipment and technologies that have the most significant co-pollution benefits.
- IEDO and its sister DOE offices should also continue to build infrastructure around robust community engagement, by the companies applying for and receiving awards and from the Department itself, including by building on the Community Workforce Readiness Fellowship (RAMP) program.
- IEDO should facilitate knowledge sharing, both within U.S. manufacturers and from other countries, to maximize the effects of industrial decarbonization research and development.
- DOE should work with other federal and state agencies to ensure that decisions and benchmarks are based on accurate and verifiable emissions and pollution data.
Full text of the comments can be found here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.