Congress Calls for Industrial Energy Efficiency.

President George W. Bush rolled out his energy program for the nation in May, emphasizing the need for new sources of production to meet the future industrial and household needs of the American public. This summer, Congress made its own mark on national energy policy with the House and Senate debating legislation on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve, fuel, efficiency standards for new vehicles, tax credits to promote energy conservation and federal research on energy efficiency. The version of the energy policy bill that passed the House and is pending in the Senate calls for energy intensive industries to "improve their energy intensity" by at least 25% by 2010. In fact, "the foundries industry" is mentioned in the Senate bill on a list that closely mirrors the industry sectors participating in the Dept. of Energy's (DOE) Industries of the Future (IOF) program. The energy efficiency goal is not a legal requirement with enforcement mechanis ms. Rather, Congress is calling on DOE along with its industry partners (such as AFS) to develop the enabling technologies, designs and production methods that will pay off in greater energy efficiency during the next decade. To back up its goal for greater industrial energy efficiency, Congress plans to re-authorize several energy saving programs at DOE such as the IOF. This is a strong signal to the Bush administration that lawmakers on Capitol Hill consider industry-oriented, cost-shared research programs a top priority. It still is unclear whether the Bush administration will continue to support industry/government research partnerships in the years ahead. For fiscal year 2002, the administration cut the metalcasting IOF program by 40% (from $5.8 million to $3.3 million), although Congress is close to restoring funding to $5.3 million.