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A new study from Environment Northeast (ENE), an environmental research organization, offers a rebuke to the notion that energy efficiency can only be achieved at the expense of economic growth. Studying the macroeconomic impact of efficiency policies in the Northeast, ENE finds that efficiency provides not just savings for consumers and a decrease in emissions — the usual benefits of energy efficiency — but a significant economic boost as well.

The study used a forecasting model to project the effect of efficiency programs on the economies of six New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It found that efficiency programs led to gains of more than $180 billion in gross state products over 15 years, more than justifying the efficiency investments made by the states.

How exactly does energy efficiency get translated into economic growth? Saving on energy bills, consumers could then redirect that money to the wider economy. Moreover, lower energy costs give regional businesses a boost by strengthening global competitiveness and promoting further growth. So much for the false choice between the environment and the economy that skeptics would have us make.

To read the ENE report, click here.