Obama Supports Further Weatherization Incentives

Yesterday, President Barack Obama said that he plans to pursue an "aggressive agenda" to encourage homeowners to weatherize and insulate their homes. While the president has previously pushed for Americans to improve their home energy efficiency on the grounds of conservation, yesterday's statement comes from the context of job growth and creation.

Already, economic models are forecasting that within the next two years, current weatherization stimulus funds will lead to the creation of over 173,000 jobs. However, the president believes that further incentives are needed to keep the jobs growing. “We cannot hang back and hope for the best when we’ve seen the kinds of job losses that we’ve seen over the last year,” Obama said, and that creating incentives for homeowners and businesses to weatherize “can have an immediate, rapid impact.”

For more information, read a report (PDF) on the expected and already created job growth from weatherization incentives, prepared by Economic Opportunity Studies.