2011 Energy Vision Corporate Leadership Awards

The Honorable Steve Israel, who has represented New York's 2nd Congressional District in Congress since 2001, has been a strong supporter of alternative fuels in transportation and renewable energy for many years on both the local and national levels.

 

In his Congressional District, which includes the Long Island communities of Huntington, Babylon, Islip, Smithtown and Oyster Bay, Rep. Israel has long worked for these goals. “I’m on a mission to make Long Island the clean energy capital of America,” he said as he announced a grant in 2009 of nearly $15 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This funding was for five alternative energy fueling stations and 87 vehicles for Nassau and Suffolk Counties. These will displace an estimated 351,000 gallons of foreign oil every year.

 

On the national level, at the start of the 111th U.S. Congress (2009), Rep. Israel and his colleague Rep. Jay Inslee from Washington founded The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) to be a strong voice in advancing policies that promote energy innovation and domestic manufacturing, development of renewable energy resources and green jobs, arresting global warming, and protecting the environment. SEEC has worked with the White House and other Congressional groups and now includes nearly 50 Members of the House of Representatives. In 2009, SEEC played a key role in ensuring that clean energy investments were included in the ARRA and in passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act, aimed at lowering U.S. greenhouse gases and promoting a clean energy economy.

 

In Congress, Rep. Israel developed the Next Generation Energy Security Plan, aimed at taking the U.S. beyond its reliance on fossil fuels and foreign sources of oil. Rep. Israel pointed out that energy independence is an economic and environmental issue as well as a matter of national security. In introducing the Plan, Israel said: “I refuse – and you should refuse – to be the first generation of Americans in our history to say ‘it’s too hard’ when it comes to the safety and security of our children.”