Perhaps you haven't heard, but there was (Another) dKos 'high water mark' set Wednesday when the EA2020 team delivered four legislative concepts to the Hill.

Passover is around the corner. A key song is "Dayenu" -- that would have been enough for us. If only X (and not everything else) had happend, Dayenu, that would have been enough for us.

* If, looking back a year from now, any of these move from concept to legislation, we will have achieved something. Dayenu!
* If any of these move from legislation to law, we will have achieved something great. Dayenu!

But, this is not enough for us ... The Energize America team is not singing Dayenu ... you might have noticed that a great team is working on High Speed Rail ... but that is not all ...

So, the Daily Kos Energize America team has delivered four concept pieces for legislative action to the Hill. What next?

Well, first a quick revamping for those not following (for those up on EA2020, skip down to what are working on right now). What did we deliver?

* Neighborhood Power Act: Leveraging Federal expertise and matching funding, this bond program will foster energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for local government facilities throughout the United States. The target is a total of $10 billion in bonds per year. Within ten years of commencing these bonds, these programs could be reducing US carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 250-350 billion (BILLION!) pounds per year! These programs will increase public and private sector (and citizen) awareness of the possibilities and value of pursuing energy efficiency. It will also increase the capacity to execute such programs.

* Community Emergency Power Act: A direct Federal grant program to local governments throughout the United States to create sustainable power and services in emergency shelters and facilities in every Congressional District, Territory, and for Tribal Lands throughout the United States. This relatively small ($120 million/year) program would not have given every one affected by Katrina safe harbor, but it would provided assistance and shelter for some ... And, like the NPA, the CEPA will foster increased capacity re energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the nation.

* BioFertilizer Production Act: This is a truly innovative concept (thanks to Deb9) for linking wind power to the production of fertilizer in several test areas in the nation. This $350 million (or so) program would set the stage for ending use of natural gas in the production of America's fertilizer, reducing GHG emissions, bringing jobs back to America, providing good jobs in rural communities, and protecting America's farmers and Americans against natural gas price shocks disrupting the agricultural sector.

* Micro-Power Producers Act: Thanks to ChapterOne, this is a thoughtful approach to developing a national base standard for Net Metering -- the hooking up of home energy production (solar panels, wind, combined-heat/power (CHP), etc) to the electricial grid. By setting national standards, this would foster ever-growing numbers of Americans to make the decision to produce their own power. This increased distributed generation will increase the resiliency of America's electrical system in the face of natural or man-made disasters while reducing America's GHG footprint.

Let me say, from what I can tell, the first three weren't on the legislative agenda. The first two should be 'no brainers' and the third, well, it truly is innovative (even if it might already be being reworked ...). And, the fourth offers some great paths to strengthening concepts that have long been on the legislative agenda without much movement.

The agenda has just begun ...

This is just the first round for 2007 ...

Our goal is not to nudge the system but to help set the path to Energize America to a better, sustainable, and more prosperous future.

Thus, we should look to set the agenda for moving forward. Here are a few elements to consider:

A. For background see Jerome a Paris's excellent discussion last night Energize America, DailyKos and Congress and Meteor Blades introduction to Eco-Diary Rescue Returns (No, It's Not All Energy).

B. We still have many Acts that should have been written for today ... that we should be working on ... here are the areas that we would like to be working on -- only the ones in italics have been sent to the Hill.

Act III: The Fleets Conversion Act ("Mass Transit")
Act IV: The Community-Based Energy Investment Act ("Neighborhood Power")
Act V: The Passenger Rail Restoration Act ("Bullet Trains")
Act VII: The Wind Energy Production Tax Credit Act ("Reap the Wind")
Act VIII: The 20 Million Solar Roofs Act ("Harness the Sun")
Act IX: The Renewable Portfolio Standards Act ("Fair Everywhere")
Act X: The Federal Net Metering Act ("Get on the Grid")
Act XI: The State-Based Renewable Energy Demonstration Act ("Green States")
Act XVIII: Home Efficiency Act ("C the Light")
Act XIX:Demand Side Management Act ("Real Time Energy Pricing")

C. We will be asking for your support and action (telephone calls & emails & ...) if (WHEN) these move from concepts to actual legislation.

D. EA2020 leadership has a meeting on the Hill Tuesday ... hopefully live-blogging will begin sometime soon after that. YOU WILL GET WARNING.

F. So, what are we working on right now:

* Home Energy Mortgages: A concept to expand the knowledge of and accessibility to energy mortgages with all property sales in the United States. And, related to this, is to enhance Americans' knowledge of and access to home energy audits. When written up, this is a no-brainer -- at least for anyone who cares about creating a more prosperous and sustainable energy future.

* Ending Mountaintop Removal for coal mining. This is a magnificent discussion by Devilstower that is the basis for developing a package for sending to the Hill.

* Home Energy Efficiency: This is an area for tremendous amounts of gains. At a cost equivalent of just a few cents a kilowatt, Americans could drastically cut their home energy use (by 10s of percent). And, these cuts could happen quickly. Every kilowatt hour cut, on average, mean 1.5 lbs less of CO2 spewed into the air. We could reduce America's electrical use by trillions of kilowatt hours per year, save Americans money, and make a dent in America's CO2 emissions -- literally within years (not decades). Now, the challenge is how to figure out the packaging of something that might make it through the Congressional sausage-grinder and the Oval Office, and remain something worth having. We're not there yet ... but working on it.

* High Speed Rail

How about these proposed ideas:

* The Biomass Conversion and Storage Act: Offers both research grants and fractional loan guarantees for development and small-scale deployment of technologies to convert raw biomass (both waste and energy crops) to storable forms via pyrolysis, torrefaction or other methods satisfying the program requirements of net efficiency, product storability, product transportability and cost.

* The Biofuel Electric Generation Act: Offers research grants and per-kW subsidies for energy conversion systems which can utilize storable bio-derived fuels to produce electricity. Eligible systems must meet minimum field-to-terminals efficiency requirements.

* The Bio-carbon Recapture and Recycling Act: Offers research grants and subsidies per product kWH after conversion (favoring diesels) for bio-fuels made from carbon captured and recycled from bio-fueled electric generators.

* Domestic energy-savings protection act: will override all local codes, covenants and restrictions which restrict or prohibit homeowners from installing and using energy-saving or energy-generating measures including (but not limited to) roof overhangs, window awnings, clothes lines, and solar PV, space heaters and water heaters.

* Solar Cooling and Real Electricity Cost act: will require utilities to bill all users by time-of-day rates, pay the same rates minus power transport costs for energy fed to the grid by domestic producers, and provide mortgage-type financing for solar-driven air conditioning gear.

What we should be working on but aren't ...

* Smart(er) Grid
* A stronger transmission grid (with the ability to move power around the grid efficiently, so that Nevada sun can power Chicago trains)
* Smart Growth
* Education (EDUCATION!!!)
* Basic infrastructure (Architecture 2030 as an example of what we can do with our buildings)

And, reaching out and working with great organizations like Apollo Alliance. Let us not waste our efforts duplicating something that has already been done (extremely) well. We're adding unique things to the table via a unique process. But, if Apollo (or American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy or Set America Free or ... have great ideas and legislation worth supporting, we should be figuring that out.

After all, one of the key strengths that this community can bring to the table, on top of the amazingly open process of developing concepts, is net roots, citizen action to call on the nation's leaders to embrace a sensible vision for America's energy future.

But, again, this is just a beginning ...

Ask yourself: Are you doing your part?

If you are excited by this, please have your eyes out for ENERGIZE AMERICA diaries ... the more participation, the merrier. Dive right in, I promise you the water is warm.

So ... come on in ... the water is warm ... Let us fight together to Energize America!

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*NOTES*
* Consider joining the new, improved Daily Kos Environmentalists community / listserve.
* You care about a better tomorrow, sit up and face the facts that today's (this century's) reality is: THE Progressive Crises: Global Warming and Peak Oil
* Answer the Call to turn us (US and the world) away from a catastrophic path on Global Warming.
* And ... Imagine Life Differently ... Imagine it Better ... And Seek to create that better life