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REBUILDING AMERICA

A Revenue Positive plan to upgrade America


Year 1 (Building envelope and housing focused)
New jobs
Additional tax revenue
GDP growth 1st year
GDP growth 5 year avg
Deficit reduction, 5 year

4 Million +
100 Billion
13%
6%
400 Billion

Inputs
(in B$$)
0

National building code, with penalties, and hold on sale/rental


based on energy efficiency

-25 Training program


{Fed Budget} Turn out 2 million qualified energy and infrastructure workers,
priority for recent fossil fuel employees

Land grant colleges

20,000 teachers @65k (includes overhead) @ to teach Energy audit


HVAC and insulation, as well as infrastructure repair
Stipends for 1 million low income/ hardship grants for 6 months
@12,500
1 million no tuition scholarships
+100 Green bond issues{Public sales}
Lend loss fund for 1 Trillion in gov backed conservation bonds
for home efficiency (up to 50% deal size), generation (20%),
cosmetic(max 30%)
-100 Infrastructure repair commitment{Fed Budget} Most necessary repairs from Army Core of Engineers

Outputs

Savings increase, nationally as the bonds become savings currency at


higher yield 4%
(in B$$)
1000 Retrofits and upgrades
10 Million buildings being upgraded, building material sales, labor
+100 Revenue increase
Assumes a very low Income tax collection of 10% on the trillion spent

Overall synopsis:
A GREEN NEW DEAL FOR THE USA
Darrell Prince, Jon Rynn, Ph.D. and Brian DAgostino, Ph.D.
copyright 2014
More than four years after the U.S. economy entered a nominal recovery, unemployment and
underemployment in 2014 in much of the country remains at recession levels. During these years,
Hurricane Sandy and an epidemic of droughts, floods, and tornados have devastated much of the
country, reminding everyone about the rising sea levels and extreme weather events being caused by
climate change. Both of these criseseconomic and environmentalhave a common solution that is
politically and financially feasible. In this paper, we outline a policy that can achieve this solution. It
offers the single best program for any political leader wanting to deliver on campaign promises of
providing economic relief to the middle class and poor, while investing in a sustainable future.
The Green New Deal we discuss involves a unique partnership between the public and private sectors
and features a bold program of investment in energy efficiency. The main form of this investment
would be refurbishing single family homes, for state of the art energy efficiency and energy generation.
Such housing stock is currently the most energy inefficient of all housing, and thus low hanging fruit
for any effort to reduce private energy costs and the nations carbon footprint while simultaneously
creating millions of new jobs.
What currently prevents such investment from occurring on a large scale? According to the American
Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (2013), financial institutions have ample funds to loan for
such purposes and the economies that can be realized from such investment are indisputable. By far
the greatest obstacle identified by [lenders], they write, is a lack of customers actively seeking
financing for energy efficiency investments. This sounds like lack of a good old-fashioned, Madison
Avenue demand generation marketing and advertising campaign, as well as a tin men style of door to
door sales. The remainder of this paper discusses a public policy innovation that can greatly increase
consumer demand for energy efficiency investment and open a vast flow of private capital, earmarked
for such improvements to homeowners, creating millions of productive jobs and revitalizing American
manufacturing.
The Green New Deal we envision involves two parts: 1. A national energy efficiency building code
standard, set in place for seven years hence, and 2. the issuing of a $100 billion in high yield (4%) US
backed bonds that would absorb private capital and make it available for a fixed total publicly
administered lend loss fund. Making a conservative estimate of twice the current fail rate of such deals

of 5%, a 10% coverage means such a program covers a trillion dollars in investment deals of this type.
Assuming the US is able to capture 10% of this revenue back as taxes, interest rates on the bonds are
easily covered by $100 billion in extra tax reciepts. Moreover, the number of buildings (100 million)
in the US, means that conversion market will need 6+ trillion before all is said and done, which will
have a 10-12 year payback on energy savingsa lot of financing, on simple deals.
With this much money flowing that way; large scale demand generation, and product companies will
develop quickly to take advantage of such a large emerging market; and big capital will move from
plodding antagonist bent on protecting existing cash flows on fossil fuels to enthusiasts seeking to
move into low-risk high volume plays, that will also yield several high risk, high reward new
technology plays.
Rather than traditional bond markets; the bonds themselves would be targeted towards traditional
commerical banks, with these bonds being eligible as reserve capital, thus ensuring buy-in from large
institutions, though a disproportionate number would be earmarked for smaller banks. The bond sale
would serve as buzz for the deals themselves. Its also a huge PR boost to banks, headlines that read
Wall Street saves the World, is a little different than their current pariah status for most Americans.
The private financing would make ultralow interest home improvement loans intended to retrofit
housing for energy efficiency, energy generation and remodeling. The program should be designed to
require a bare minimum of paperwork from homeowners and no net increase in monthly costs. Once
the improvements are made, the loan can be repaid entirely out of the savings resulting from lower
costs for fuel and electricity.
This funding system uses public policy to create incentives for private lending by increasing consumer
demand for investments in energy efficiency. The citizens earn interest on bonds, the lenders get larger,
more stable reserves from customers, as well as high volume of low risk deals, the homeowners
undertake the investment and realize long term cost savings as well as measurable status upgrades to
their homes, and the US reaps the positive externalities of large scale job creation and a greatly
reduced carbon footprint.
The job creation would occur through a multiplier effecthomeowners would employ contractors and
their workers, who would purchase materials from local businesses, which in turn will need to be
manufactured, spurring job growth in manufacturing as discussed by Rynn (2010). The program
embodies the principle of subsidiarity, namely the use of government in a way that empowers, rather
than pre-empts, action in the private sector (DAgostino 2012).
REFERENCES
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. 2013. Engaging Small to Mid-Sized Lenders,
Executive Summary.
DAgostino, Brian. 2012. The Middle Class Fights Back: How Progressive Movements Can Restore
Democracy in America. (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger).
Rynn, Jon. 2010. Manufacturing Green Prosperity: the Power to Rebuild the American Middle Class.
(Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger).

Steps, by department
President

Public address to the nation:


Aim for 10% reduction in energy usage by simply asking
Ask the country to shut off extra lights, people and businesses(downtown DC is a good example as is
the earth at night)
D of Ed
Audit national high schools- make sure there is funding for, and widespread shop classes in high
schools, add energy generation and conservation unit to curricula, preferably on a Knewton type
system, which will expose teachers to advanced teaching tools.
(also helps to address a mechanical skills deficit in our youth)
Coordinate the stipend/ scholarship agreements with land grant colleges, and together with DOEnergy
and energy accrediting agencies, develop curriculum for energy efficiency/HVAC/alternative energy
generation
HUD
Financing for multifamily unit efficiency upgrades does not count towards debt maximums, energy
audits mandatory, as is environmental testing (air and at tap water testing), once a year for failing
standard every 5 for passing it.
Fannie Mae
require efficiency audit, and minimum 50% alternative energy purchase for funding (local or from
provider) On all new deals, require an upgrade to new standard within 2 years.
Federal Reserve/Treasury
mechanism for distributing green bond sales, and allow bond sales to count as reserves up to ? % of
total value
Additionally, while the green bond program is excellent for providing people with investment
alternatives, and provides Wall Street with impetus to push these programs, in truth, the easiest way to
fund this would be a temporary monetary expansion meaning the Federal Reserve makes all of those
loans (through proxies) and as they are paid back the money is taken out of circulation.
Opinions from the Fed regarding this should probably be issued.
ACEEE+ DOE+ Energy Star??
Create energy standards for national building code, (min r-20 for walls and r-8 for windows)
and audit type - projections for cost savings over 10 year span. Recyclability standard research for
consumer electronics and lifetime measurement.
DOE
Focus funding on retrofit research for buildings, vehicles and gas stations(start with military base?),
equity funding on for municipal bio gas systems, on cord energy metrics system for new appliances,
recyclables sorters, build large accelerators, and plan on loan portfolio being a 30% loss- progress is
risk
3 year delay on DOE developed technologies going overseas
Sketch out national recycling program(Commerce?)
Create template national building code and costing estimates for min 50% reduction GHG emissions
per capita

Congress
Pass recyclability 90% standard, and minimum average life for consumer electronics sold in the US
70% or so and 3 year minimum average lifetime
Pass Bond issue.

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