Regulators, advocates, and energy industry companies have long understood that energy efficiency policies and programs can reduce air pollution emissions associated with fuel combustion. This reduction in emissions can lead to lower environmental compliance costs and, ultimately, lower public health costs. However, translating concrete energy efficiency policy into air quality benefits can be challenging in today’s regulatory environment.

On July 18th, Christopher James, John Shenot, and Ken Colburn addressed this challenge in a webinar for a broad spectrum of participants across the energy and environment sectors. This hour-long presentation delves into states’ efficiency policies, programs, and air quality plans, best practices for estimating avoided emissions, as well as the scale of energy efficiency efforts necessary for making a discernible difference in air quality. With 150 million US citizens living in areas that exceed national health-based standards for “criteria” air pollutants like ozone and fine particles, energy efficiency and air quality policies must be complementary in order to shape the path to cleaner skies.