MADISON, WI -- (September 10, 1999) -- On September 3, 1999, Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener^sm Program asked the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to preserve and expand its innovative program for reducing nitrogen oxides, a precursor of ground-level ozone formation known as NOx. The DEP’s current program provides national leadership in emission reduction strategies by making rewards available to all businesses, building owners, and others for the emission reductions delivered by their energy efficiency and renewable energy actions. These actions currently receive priority in the distribution of valuable emission allowances. The DEP’s proposed new rules for NOx reduction would limit the number of allowances given out for this purpose.

Leonardo Academy filed this request as part of the DEP’s public hearing process on New Jersey’s proposed rules for reducing emissions of NOx. These rules are being prepared in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) requirement that New Jersey and 22 other states prepare and implement nitrogen oxide emission reduction plans. In crafting these rules, the DEP is deciding how it will give away allowances for emitting nitrogen oxides. These allowances will be worth between $900 million and $2.4 billion over the next 20 years.

Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener^sm Program has prepared a set of principles to guide the development of environmentally-friendly and cost-effective environmental regulations that provide market incentives for implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Leonardo Academy asked the environmental protection agencies in all 50 states, including the DEP, to incorporate the Cleaner and Greener^sm Principles into all future pollution reduction programs.

Incorporating the Cleaner and Greener Principles will: (1) Reward all those who reduce emissions with energy efficiency and renewable energy actions, (2) Provide an additional revenue stream for schools, hospitals, local and state government, businesses, building owners, and others that can be used to support energy efficiency projects and building upgrades, and (3) Increase the environmental benefits and reduce the overall cost of pollution reduction programs by increasing incentives for emission reduction actions that reduce multiple pollutants.

Cleaner and Greener Principles for Pollution Reduction Programs are corporately supported by Johnson Controls, Philips Lighting, Trane, Quad/Graphics, Kinko’s, Onsite Sycom Energy Corporation, and The Energy Group. Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener Program continues to gather supporters of these principles. More information on these principles is available at http://www.cleanerandgreener.org/CGPrinciples

Leonardo Academy is a nonprofit organization that works on energy and environmental issues. Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener^sm Environment Program is devoted to putting the competitive market to work on cleaning up the environment. The program’s web site at www.cleanerandgreener.org features a calculator that lets building owners calculate the emission reductions produced by energy-saving projects.