Washington, D.C., December 8, 2009 – The Alliance to Save Energy hailed President Obama for making energy efficiency a key building block of his new job-creation plan, introduced today at The Brookings Institution. The Alliance said the president’s emphasis on energy-saving home retrofits has the potential not only to provide an immediate “shot in the arm” to the economy, but also to have important long-term benefits for homeowners and for the nation’s economy, security and environment.

“Using federal dollars to promote greater energy efficiency in homes will create new, ‘clean energy’ jobs and directly benefit U.S. consumers by leaving more money in their pockets,” said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. “But that’s only the beginning of a very important story – when our nation as a whole uses less energy, we also enjoy important national security and global climate benefits.

“We applaud President Obama for making new investments in public transit and in energy-efficient rail, as well as for funding some of the clean energy projects for which stimulus dollars were not available. These ‘shovel ready’ efficiency and clean energy projects will create immediate jobs, decrease our dependence on imported oil and our carbon emissions from the transportation sector and help to pave the way to U.S. global leadership in the emerging clean energy economy,” Callahan said.

“While President Obama goes to Copenhagen without benefit of congressional action on climate legislation, he has an important and impressive track record of action and progress to report, one that particularly confirms that energy efficiency is not only a winning strategy for our economy, but also the key to tackling global climate change immediately and cost-effectively,” she continued.

“The results of efforts to date are beginning to come in, and they are impressive. We have heard from a number of Alliance Associates that the stimulus law’s consumer tax incentives have already created manufacturing jobs in their areas, helping to lift the sluggish economy. The president’s new proposal will ensure that the movement to improve the efficiency of America’s homes and businesses is not simply a fad, but takes hold as a long-term market trend,” Callahan concluded.