Obama: Retrofitting Homes Is Cheap, Green And Smart

President Barack Obama
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President Obama spoke today at a Washington-area Home Depot, where he discussed the economic impact of energy efficiency in homes and buildings.

Obama first discussed the role of the Recovery Act in creating “the single biggest investment in job creating clean energy in our history.” Clean energy, he said “can be a powerful engine for creating” growth. He also said that as a result of the stimulus, the U.S. is “on track to double renewable energy production, and double our capacity to manufacture clean energy components” by 2012.

But this, said Obama, is not enough. Currently, “our nation’s buildings, our homes and our offices, consume almost 40% of the energy we use, and contribute almost 40% of the carbon pollution that we produce.”

“Retrofitting these buildings to make them more energy efficient, installing new windows and doors, insulation, roofing” said Obama, is one of the “fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work, while saving money and reducing harmful emissions.” He also called insulation “sexy stuff” because it “saves money.”

According to Obama, the U.S. is on track to upgrade half a million homes by this time next year, “but this is an area that has huge potential to grow.”

He then described a proposal he made to Congress to provide incentives to Americans who retrofit their homes, which would stimulate consumer spending and ultimately “help people make that initial investment, so that they can recover that money over the long term.”

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