Energy, Environmental, and Regulatory Issues

Given that small business consumes a considerable amount of the nations energy - nearly half of all of the electricity and natural gas used for commercial and industrial purposes - it is imperative that America’s small businesses be involved in the effort to solve the nation’s energy crisis. Specifically, NSBA recommends the following actions:

Institute a process to examine accumulated regulatory burden on small businesses, not just the incremental burden of each new regulation. Avoid the simultaneous creation of new regulatory burdens from different federal agencies. New regulatory burdens early in a new Administration—even if each is not significantly burdensome—could accumulate to a significant economic drag.

Maintain a balanced regulatory process with a key role for the SBA Office of Advocacy. A strong and independent role for the Office of Advocacy—particularly within the administration—is critical to ensuring well-crafted regulations that efficiently achieve their goals without unnecessary burdens on small businesses.

Significantly increase the share of the Energy Star budget dedicated to Energy Star Small Business. While small business constitutes half of the U.S. economy and a similar share of our national energy consumption, an extremely small share of the EPA Energy Star budget is dedicated to reaching these small companies.

Consider the central role small firms plays in job and innovation creation and the unique needs of the small-business community in any “green jobs” initiative. Assisting the small business that are seeking increased energy efficiency or energy independence, through the use of renewable energy sources, should be a priority, as should aiding the small firms inventing the “green” technologies of tomorrow.