This is what a clean energy revolution looks like

Hi Daniel,

What if every new building built in Illinois was a green building?

What if every new home, new school, new office and new factory used no more energy than it could generate itself through solar panels or another source of clean, renewable energy?

Now -- and this might really strain your imagination -- what if our leaders in Congress had the audacity to require all new buildings to be green buildings within a generation?

The good news? A few leaders on Capitol Hill have the guts to push for this remarkable goal. Now you can supply a dose of courage to the rest of Illinois's congressional delegation -- and at just the right moment, a few short weeks before an incredibly critical vote for our environment. Take action here:

http://www.environmentillinois.org/action/clean-energy/green-buildings?id4=ES

President Obama has called for a clean energy revolution. Reps. Henry Waxman, Jan Schakowsky and other leaders in Congress are working to deliver on that promise through the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the bill that we hope will drive the creation of a clean energy economy and cap the pollution that's causing global warming.

The bill isn't perfect. But it does reduce the pollution that's fueling global warming and it includes a breakthrough provision that could do more to usher in a clean energy revolution than anything we've seen before: A plan to get every new building to meet a "zero-energy" standard within a generation. [1] Through this single step, we can help America:

• Reduce our country's carbon footprint by a third by 2050, cutting global warming pollution by 250 million tons per year -- the equivalent of taking 50 million cars off the road.
  
• Save families and businesses $25 billion a year -- and more money as time goes on.

The challenge, of course, is that a few big home builders and shopping mall developers hate this provision. They're putting the screws to our members of Congress to get them to kill it before it comes up for a vote on the House floor in a few weeks. Together, we can stop them.

Tell Illinois's delegation that you want all new buildings in America to be green buildings.

Click here to take action.

This is an incredibly important step toward a cleaner, greener energy future. Thanks for making it all possible.

Sincerely,

Max Muller
Environment Illinois Program Director
action@environmentillinois.org
http://www.environmentillinois.org

[1] The bill would require all new buildings to cut their energy use in half by 2015 and keeps raising the standards past that date, with a goal of getting to zero-energy within a generation.

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.