In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons’ legislative staff shares their analysis of the President’s State of the Union address with Delawareans.
Last night in his State of the Union address, President Obama identified a key driver of economic growth that is both powerful and straightforward to implement: increasing the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses, where over 40% of our nation’s energy is used.
President Obama announced he is setting a new goal of cutting in half the energy wasted by our nation’s homes and businesses over the next twenty years. Energy efficiency saves money, creates jobs, protects the environment and promotes energy independence.
Senator Coons has been a leading voice on energy efficiency in the Senate. In the last Congress, he co-sponsored the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act with Senators Shaheen and Portman to promote energy efficiency, as well as legislation to raise the standard for energy efficiency in our household appliances. In the current Congress, he will work with his colleagues to to ensure that a strong program to maximize energy efficiency becomes law.
Chris is a congressional vice chair of the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit organization that promotes energy efficiency. A recent report released by the Alliance outlined policies that can double how effectively our economy uses energy by 2030. Doing so will bring a 100% return on investment, add 1% to the nation’s GDP, save the average household $1000 per year and create 1.3 million jobs around the country.