Obama calls insulation ’sexy.’ Really.

One of our constant rants about the challenge of convincing people of the wisdom of energy efficiency is that it’s not “sexy” like, say, wind turbines or PV panels.  Well, the president says it is. So there.

President Obama recently visited a Home Depot in Virginia to champion home building retrofits and energy efficiency.  He delivered a message of support for incentives that stimulate consumer spending, increase manufacturing, save money, and reduce energy consumption all at the same time.

He first met with a small group of representatives from labor, business, and manufacturing to discuss opportunities in the shift to a more energy efficient economy.  He then delivered remarks on energy efficiency and job creation to an audience of 40 individuals including contractors, environmental groups, home retrofit workers, small business and labor representatives.  In attendance were key policy makers including Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT).  He then met with CEOs to discuss how best to implement this set of energy efficiency initiatives, including Frank Blake, Chairman and CEO, The Home Depot, Andrew Liveris, President and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company, Steve Cowell, Chairman and CEO, Conservation Services Group, and Mark Savan, President, Simonton Windows.

Press coverage of this event was widespread.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “White House economists believe proposals such as ‘cash for caulkers’ will have the greatest jobs-creation effect for the least amount of federal spending.”  Major news outlets covered the event, including:

·         Washington Post, “Obama Promotes Home Energy Efficiency Program”
·         New York Times, “Obama Promotes Insulation as Sexy”
·         Los Angeles Times, “Obama Pushes Home Improvement to Create Jobs, Save Energy”

See the full 14-minute video below at the White House blog.

Tags: homepost