Efficiency First

Residential efficiency program among top White House strategies for job creation

In a speech today at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama singled out residential energy retrofits as one of the keys to near-term job creation for American workers. “I’m calling on Congress to consider a new program to provide incentives for consumers who retrofit their homes to become more energy-efficient, which we know creates jobs, saves money for families, and reduces the pollution that threatens our environment,” the President said.

While no details of the program were provided in today’s speech, the White House has been considering proposals that would help homeowners pay for weatherization and other measures related to home energy efficiency. In addition to saving homeowners money on their energy bills, the proposed incentive would create jobs for unemployed workers in construction and manufacturing by stimulating rapid market growth in the Home Performance industry.

“Incentives to promote energy efficiency and clean energy manufacturing don’t automatically create jobs or lower carbon emissions,” the President said. “But these steps provide a framework in which companies can compete and innovate to create those jobs and reduce energy consumption.”

On the subject of green technology, the President added:

“And because our economic future depends on our leadership in the industries of the future, we are investing in basic applied research, and working to create the incentives to build a new clean energy economy. For we know the nation that leads in clean energy will be the nation that leads the world. I want America to be that nation. I want America’s prosperity to be powered by what we invent and pioneer — not just what we borrow and what we consume. And I know that we can and will be that nation if we are willing to do what it takes to get there.”

Read the official transcript of the President’s speech here:
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-job-creation-and-economic-growth

A video of the speech is available here:
www.brookings.edu/events/2009/1208_jobs_obama.aspx