March 10, 2014 – Sen. Collins Introduces Clean Cookstoves Bill That Would Improve Environment, Public Health
Excerpt: WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins today introduced the “Clean Cookstoves Support Act,” a bill that would reduce carbon pollution and improve public health by supporting a global market for clean and efficient cookstoves.
“Replacing unsafe cookstoves with modern alternatives is the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of environmental fixes,” Senator Collins said. “It can be done relatively quickly and inexpensively and would improve lives, empower women, and combat pollution around the world.”
Nearly half the world’s population cooks over open fires or inefficient, polluting and unsafe cookstoves using wood, agricultural waste, dung, coal, and other solid fuels. Smoke from these traditional stoves is associated with chronic and acute diseases that disproportionately affect women and young children. These stoves also create serious environmental problems by emitting black carbon that contributes to regional air pollution and climate change.
The “Clean Cookstoves Support Act,” co-sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), would reinforce the U.S. Government’s commitment to spur the adoption of clean cookstoves around the world. It would require the Secretary of State to work to advance the goals of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, which was formed through the leadership of Secretary of State Clinton and the United Nation’s Foundation to help create a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. The Alliance has the goal of spurring the adoption of clean cookstoves in 100 million homes by 2020.
The bill would also authorize existing funding commitments made by the U.S. Government to support the Alliance’s mission. Several federal agencies and departments-including the Departments of State, Energy, Health and Human Services and the United States Agency for International Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation-have committed a total of up to $125 million to the sector for the first five years of the Alliance.
