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Obama announces new energy guidelines

Email|Link|Comments (9) Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor February 5, 2009 12:24 PM

President Obama announced this afternoon that he is issuing a memorandum directing the Energy Department to come up with new guidelines to increase the efficiency of household appliances.

He said that over 30 years, the new guidelines would save the equivalent of the energy produced by all coal-fired plants for 2 years.

Obama called the changes "a significant down payment" on a clean energy future, and promoted the alternative energy components of his economic stimulus package.

The president hit back at critics who label as "pork" the provision to convert the federal vehicle fleet to cleaner, more efficient fuel sources. He said it will save taxpayers money, create jobs, and help the environment.

"Are these folks serious?" he asked of the skeptics.

"Washington may not be ready to get serious about energy independence, but I am," he added.

To read the memorandum, click here.

Obama's full remarks are below:

Thank you so much. Well, it is a thrill to be here. Thank you, Secretary Chu, for bringing your experience and expertise to this new role. And thanks to all of you who have done so much on behalf of the country each and every day here at the department. You know, your mission is so important, and it's only going to grow as we transform the ways we produce energy and use energy for the sake of our environment, for the sake of our security, and for the sake of our economy.

As we are meeting, in the halls of Congress just down the street from here, there's a debate going on about the plan I've proposed, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

This isn't some abstract debate. Last week, we learned that many of America's largest corporations are planning to lay off tens of thousands of workers. Today we learned that last week, the number of new unemployment claims jumped to 626,000. Tomorrow, we're expecting another dismal jobs report on top of the 2.6 million jobs that we lost last year. We've lost half a million jobs each month for the last two months.

Now, I believe that legislation of such magnitude as has been proposed deserves the scrutiny that it has received over the last month. I think that's a good thing. That's the way democracy is supposed to work. But these numbers that we're seeing are sending an unmistakable message -- and so are the American people. The time for talk is over. The time for action is now, because we know that if we do not act, a bad situation will become dramatically worse. Crisis could turn into catastrophe for families and businesses across the country.

And I refuse to let that happen. We can't delay and we can't go back to the same worn-out ideas that led us here in the first place. In the last few days, we've seen proposals arise from some in Congress that you may not have read but you'd be very familiar with because you've been hearing them for the last 10 years, maybe longer. They're rooted in the idea that tax cuts alone can solve all our problems; that government doesn't have a role to play; that half-measures and tinkering are somehow enough; that we can afford to ignore our most fundamental economic challenges -- the crushing cost of health care, the inadequate state of so many of our schools, our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.

So let me be clear: Those ideas have been tested, and they have failed. They've taken us from surpluses to an annual deficit of over a trillion dollars, and they've brought our economy to a halt. And that's precisely what the election we just had was all about. The American people have rendered their judgment. And now is the time to move forward, not back. Now is the time for action.

Just as past generations of Americans have done in trying times, we can and we must turn this moment of challenge into one of opportunity. The plan I've proposed has at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work that America needs to be done.

This plan will save or create over 3 million jobs -- almost all of them in the private sector.

This plan will put people to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, our dangerous -- dangerously deficient dams and levees.

This plan will put people to work modernizing our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

This plan will put people to work renovating more than 10,000 schools, giving millions of children the chance to learn in 21st century classrooms, libraries and labs -- and to all the scientists in the room today, you know what that means for America's future.

This plan will provide sensible tax relief for the struggling middle class, unemployment insurance and continuing health care coverage for those who've lost their jobs, and it will help prevent our states and local communities from laying off firefighters and teachers and police.

And finally, this plan will begin to end the tyranny of oil in our time.

After decades of dragging our feet, this plan will finally spark the creation of a clean energy industry that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next few years, manufacturing wind turbines and solar cells, for example -- millions more after that. These jobs and these investments will double our capacity to generate renewable energy over the next few years.

We'll fund a better, smarter electricity grid and train workers to build it -- a grid that will help us ship wind and solar power from one end of this country to another. Think about it. The grid that powers the tools of modern life -- computers, appliances, even BlackBerrys -- (laughter) -- looks largely the same as it did half a century ago. Just these first steps towards modernizing the way we distribute electricity could reduce consumption by 2 to 4 percent.

We'll also lead a revolution in energy efficiency, modernizing more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improving the efficiency of more than 2 million American homes. This will not only create jobs, it will cut the federal energy bill by a third and save taxpayers $2 billion each year and save Americans billions of dollars more on their utility bills.

In fact, as part of this effort, today I've signed a presidential memorandum requesting that the Department of Energy set new efficiency standards for common household appliances. This will save consumers money, this will spur innovation, and this will conserve tremendous amounts of energy. We'll save through these simple steps over the next 30 years the amount of energy produced over a two-year period by all the coal-fired power plants in America.

And through investments in our mass transit system to boost capacity, in our roads to reduce congestion, and in technologies that will accelerate the development of innovations like plug-in hybrid vehicles, we'll be making a significant down payment on a cleaner and more energy independent future.

Now, I read the other day that critics of this plan ridiculed our notion that we should use part of the money to modernize the entire fleet of federal vehicles to take advantage of state of the art fuel efficiency. This is what they call pork. You know the truth. It will not only save the government significant money over time, it will not only create manufacturing jobs for folks who are making these cars, it will set a standard for private industry to match. And so when you hear these attacks deriding something of such obvious importance as this, you have to ask yourself -- are these folks serious? Is it any wonder that we haven't had a real energy policy in this country?

For the last few years, I've talked about these issues with Americans from one end of this country to another. And Washington may not be ready to get serious about energy independence, but I am. And so are you. And so are the American people.

Inaction is not an option that is acceptable to me and it's certainly not acceptable to the American people -- not on energy, not on the economy, not at this critical moment.

So I am calling on all the members of Congress -- Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate -- to rise to this moment. No plan is perfect. There have been constructive changes made to this one over the last several weeks. I would love to see additional improvements today. But the scale and the scope of this plan is the right one. Our approach to energy is the right one. It's what America needs right now, and we need to move forward today. We can't keep on having the same old arguments over and over again that lead us to the exact same spot -- where we are wasting previous energy, we're not creating jobs, we're failing to compete in the global economy, and we end up bickering at a time when the economy urgently needs action.

I thank all of you for being here, and I'm eager to work with Secretary Chu and all of you as we stand up to meet the challenges of this new century. That's what the American people are looking for. That's what I expect out of Congress. That's what I believe we can deliver to our children and our grandchildren in their future.

Thank you so much, everybody. I appreciate it. Thank you.

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Trying to safe energy the way it is listed out does not really do anything with the economy but getting the cost of doing business down will really help. Look there are many ways to save energy right now why reinvent the wheels. An example would be replacing all lights with LED lighting. Now I wonder why LED bulbs are so expensive when it is not that difficult to produce than fluorescent and bulbs. The efficiency is incredible and the durability is unquestionable. We could cut down electricity use by 50% in the United States easily if everyone uses LED lighting. Next is why does the federal fleet need to have vehicles that is so big to convey a couple of people. There are plenty of small cars that could do the job easily and cost less to replace all the fleet than the grand plan of using electric cars etc. All these billions trying to help our car producers will go to waste. there are better ways to spend this money.

Posted by Josh Ooi February 5, 09 02:03 PM

I AM SO ANGRY!

Tom Daschle, and Nancy Killefer are two of the finest, and most competent public servants you could possibly hope for in these appointments. They have been assassinated by the Washington healthcare lobby through their paid Bush Republican henchmen in congress. These Bush republicans are the same people blocking the economic recovery plan put forth by the Obama administration.

I am BURNING MAD America. And you should be too. Tome Daschle and Nancy Killefer were exactly what we needed to help turn this country around and fix our economy, and catastrophic healthcare crisis.

If I were their boss I would tell them to get right back to Washington. And dare congress to not approve them. How ridiculous is it to reject highly qualified people that this country needs just because they made a mistake on their taxes. Don't stand for that anymore America. They apologized, and paid their taxes, and that should be it. Their country needs them. But President Obama has to do what he thinks is best. I understand that. I'M JUST SO MAD at the anti American Bush Republicans.

Like many of you I have been trying to enjoy the after glow of this Beautiful historic election. But I see that the republicans in congress and their cohorts aren't going to be good sports, and LOSER'S!

SO BE IT!

In spite of President Obama's repeated offers, and gestures of collegiality to Republicans. Bush Republicans have seized upon every opportunity to stab President Obama in the back. And by doing so they are stabbing you, and the rest of the American people in the back. Well, you don't have to put up with that. And you shouldn't put up with that. President Obama has only been on the job two weeks. And he inherited two wars, and the worst economy since the great depression.

We had an election. And president Obama, and the democrats won BIG. And Bush Republicans lost miserably!

The Bush Republicans are the ones responsible for the worst economic crisis since the great depression. And the Bush Republicans are responsible for the worst healthcare crisis in American history. A healthcare crisis that is killing hundreds of thousands of you every year. Rich, middle class, and poor a like. Insured, and uninsured. Men, women, children, and babies.

President Obama, and the Democrats should take back all the concessions they granted the Bush Republicans, and tell them to put up! or shut up!

Everyone, start calling and contacting these Bush Republicans and tell them to stop blocking President Obama, and the Democrats recovery plan. And stop trying to block, and corrupt healthcare reform. Tell them to get on board with President Obama and the Democrats, or GET OUT!!

If these Bush Republicans refuse to cooperate I want all of you to immediately begin the process of removing them from office by every legal means possible. Including impeachment, and recall. I want you to bring the full weight and power of the movement down on their heads that swept President Obama, and the Democrats into control of the whitehouse, and congress. Take no prisoners. Use all the techniques you learned over this past historic election. Be flexible, creative, adaptable, and relentless like you were in the past.

To my cyber warriors I call on you again. You are among the best and the brightest. I call on you to move this fight from the cyber world to the living rooms, dens, and work places of the voters these Bush Republicans misrepresent. I know I can count on you. This is a fight worth fighting.

To my fellow World citizens. As an American I invite, and welcome you and your advise, input, and help. By delaying Americas recovery, and healthcare reform, these Bush Republicans are delaying our commitment to your recovery, and to being the better America for you that we aspire too.

I had hoped it would not come to this after our historic election. I had hoped that the Bush Republicans would respect the overpowering will of the people, and the World. But I guess not. All the Bush Republicans really care about is them-selves. Well, SO BE IT! Lets finish the job.

Sincerely

jacksmith --- Working Class :-)

Posted by jacksmith February 5, 09 02:29 PM

We need to do everything in our power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.We have so much available to use such as wind and solar as well as technologies to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. There could be no better investment in than to invest in energy independence. Create clean cheap energy,create millions of BADLY needed new green jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.The high cost of fuel this past year did serious damage to our society and economy. Record numbers of jobs and homes have been lost due to the direct impact on our economy.Oil is finite.We are using it globally at the rate of 2 X faster than new oil is being discovered. Added to the strain on our supplies foreign countries are bursting in populations and becoming modern.China and India alone are expected to add another 3 million vehicles to their highways in the next 2 decades. I just read a fantastic book called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now by Jeff Wilson.Great Book!

Posted by Seth February 5, 09 06:30 PM

First Josh, you can't cut US electricity use by 50% if the US doesn't even use 50% of it's electricity for lighting. The US uses about 10% of it's electricity for lighting, so if you cut that by 50% you save 5% on total electricity consumption.

Second, for jacksmith. It isn't the republicans shooting down BHO's picks. Paying taxes is patriotic, remember? Joe Biden said that not long ago. So it's the democrats shooting themselves in the foot again. Why do we tolerate these income tax evaders? And no, those unpaid taxes weren't a mistake. I'm surprised at you jacksmith, you being working class and all promoting well-to-do tax cheats.

As far as "Bush republicans"... Bush is gone. It's BHO now.

If the democrats could call back all the concessions they gave republicans, I wish they could call back there refusal to revamp Fannie & Freddie the TWO times Bush wanted and the ONE time McCain wanted. Perhaps then, we wouldn't have the economic mess we're in now. Who woulda thunk that a government mandate under penalty to loan money to those who could not afford it... would fail... taking the whole economic system with it?

BTWjacksmith, the people are against abailouts and are increasingly leaning towards NO stimulus, but BHO is charging ahead against the will of the people. So there.

Posted by lulu February 5, 09 06:58 PM

God it's nice to have an intelligent person at the helm. And to the Repubs: since you can't lead, get the "blank" out of the way.

Posted by Bryan Miller February 5, 09 08:24 PM

Bryan Miller - how intelligent can he be if he keeps nominating tax cheats for positions in the Cabinet?

Posted by Linda February 6, 09 08:56 AM

And yet the DOE wants to spend 50 million dollars to erect a building in the wilderness of northern Minnesota to study neutrino movement. That is just the building!! The detector is 200 million more. And why? If you believe their literature on it, they built the first detector in the wrong place. And when they are all done in a couple of years, the people will have nothing to show for their money except a hazzardous waste site to clean up for millions more. They have already spent millions on design and administrative costs. Check out the online info on Fermi national accelerator lab and the Nova project. Talk about useless pork!!

Posted by Walter Olson February 6, 09 10:30 AM

Walter Olson -
You're right that Nova is asking for a big investment, but the potential payoff justifies it. History shows that there are huge payoffs to society and the economy that come from understanding nature at a deeper level.

At the end of the 19th century most people thought that nearly everything was understood about physics -- Newton ruled. But then came relativity and quantum theory at the beginning of the 20th century and blew open everything. For example, you wouldn't have GPS (which precisely guides airplanes and missiles as well as cars) without an understanding of relativity, and you wouldn't have any of the zillion things that lasers do (medical and industrial apps, big bucks for the economy) without understanding quantum theory. Those new technologies were impossible to envision until someone explored nature at a deeper level and stumbled on radically new information.

In the end, technological innovation � and the economic boost it brings � follows after exploratory science. A really good example of that comes from Fermi National lab: in order to build their big, expensive accelerator to do basic (=exploratory) science, they had to develop superconducting technology on a scale that no one had dreamed of before. Once they did that (using federal funds), others grabbed the technology and developed things like MRI, which uses big superconducting magnets-- and puts billions of dollars into the economy.

Have you had exploratory surgery lately? Neither have I. So we haven�t had to worry about the lost work days and risk of infection that come with it. Why is it rare? Because of things like MRI machines, PET scans (they use positrons - anti-matter! - something discovered while doing basic science) and other medical imaging techniques that use technology developed at places like Fermilab.

Nova wants to study neutrinos. Why should we care? Trillions of them pass through us each moment but we don�t know much about them. Since there are so many of them and they�re involved in all kinds of processes that no one understands, studying them could lead to insights as radical as relativity or quantum theory. That means there may be a big payoff one day. (In fact, they�ve already figured out how to use them for geoimaging.)

So yes, Nova is asking for big money, but there could be a much bigger payoff. And last but not least, there is no danger of leaving a hazardous waste site � you should check your facts on that.

Posted by amima February 6, 09 12:00 PM

Not a hazzardous waste site? What else would you call something containing 6 million , yes millions, gallons of pcb contaminated oil? Not to mention the 10's of thousands of pounds of pvc cells to hold it all. According to the presentation given by Fermi Lab staff, they intend to put this oil in small pvc cells and glue the cells into huge blocks weighing hundreds of tons each, with no way to get the oil back out. Googling Nova, I found a quote in the Minnesota Daily news paper, from one of the scientists that said he is not worried about the oil left behind because when they are done, it becomes the property ( read that as problem) of DOE. The DOE just happens us! This monster has got to be stopped.

And, while basic science study is great, non of the samples you mention came with such an expensive and dangerous price tag.

Posted by Walter Olson February 6, 09 02:13 PM

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