| As I post, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing on Home Star, an exciting new program that will help residents save money on their energy bill and create hundreds of thousands of green jobs. Watch the live webcast here. Giving Home Star serious consideration in this committee is a encouraging step since President Obama gave the program his support last week. The Home Star legislation has drawn a huge range of supporters, from Dow Chemicals, Change to Win, and Green For All. Here are some excerpts from their testimony today. “Home Star is an essential step to help Americans save on their energy bills while spurring the creation of good jobs and new industries that drive economic recovery and help our country achieve energy independence,” said Chris Chafe, Executive Director of Change to Win.
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“HOME STAR is a win-win-win as it will put our nation’s skilled construction force back to work, benefit homeowners through comfort and energy efficient improvements to their existing homes, and result in long term energy efficiency gains,” said WellHome President Larry Laseter in his remarks before the Senate Committee.
“We believe the HOME STAR program will deliver both economic and environmental benefits,” said Andrew N. Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company. “Economically, it will stimulate the construction sector, among the hardest hit in the recession, while also giving relief to homeowners, who count energy as their largest cost after their mortgage. HOME STAR has the additional benefit of offering immediate consumer relief through direct rebates rather than tax credits to be accrued in a distant future.” As you can see, the program will bring massive benefits to consumers and the environment, but if there is one thing to take away from Home Star, its jobs. The program will create over 150,000 jobs in the construction and manufacturing sectors. This type of innovative job creation program is exactly what we need. But what will it actually mean for every day citizens. Daniel Gross has a great piece in Slate Magazine sharing his experience testing his home insulation. After doing a blow test (when they fire up a huge fan in your front door to find where you have leakage) he found lots of places he could save energy. However, the problem is paying for it: Insulation is more expensive and more intrusive than things like smart meters, programmable thermostats, or compact fluorescents. Improving your insulation could involve cutting holes in walls and ceilings, ripping some stuff out, and blowing or rolling other stuff in.
Luckily, Robert has access to Connecticuts Energy Efficiency Fund, which helps people pay the up front costs on these retrofits they everyone can yield the benefits. This is the key point. Home Star is good for everyone. It saves money, energy, and the environment. So why do we need it? because home owners need help getting over that initial up-front cost hump. With a little help up front, there is a huge return. |
