Amidst Shutdown, Chambers Bring Clean Energy Message to Washington

Braving a government shutdown and a Capitol Hill lockdown, local chamber of commerce leaders last week delivered a powerful message of clean energy as an engine of economic development directly to five U.S. Senators and an equal number of House members and their staffs.

“Through shutdown and lockdown, our delegation demonstrated the can-do attitude of local chambers,” said Diane Doucette, CICE Executive Director. “Local business leaders are engines of growth and perhaps the best hope we have to lead our economy toward energy innovation.”

Joining the trip were chamber leaders from Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Utah, Indiana, Tennessee, California and Texas. The executives told the members of Congress of their strong support for the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill and discussed other energy initiatives.

An oped about the trip written by Susan Munroe, President of Ohio’s Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce, can be found here. A column in Breaking Energy by CICE Executive Director Diane Doucette can be found here.