President Barack Obama directed the Energy Department to increase energy efficiency standards for household and commercial appliances Thursday and strengthened his push for a stimulus plan designed to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil.
“Washington might not be ready to get serious about energy independence, but I am,” Mr. Obama said at the Department of Energy.
The president also touted plans to modernize 75 percent of federal buildings and spending on transportation improvements included in the stimulus bill, which has stalled in the Senate in the last few days.
Mr. Obama used the speech to chastise critics who have charged that the stimulus plan includes too much spending, saying that relying solely on tax cuts will not restore the economy.
“Those ideas have been tested, and they have failed,” Mr. Obama said. “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.”
Mr. Obama’s memorandum asks the energy department to move quickly to set new efficiency guideline for appliances including dishwashers, lamps and commercial equipment.
The president estimated that his broader push to improve energy efficiency in federal buildings modernization plan would cut the government’s energy cost a third and save about $2 billion a year. He also said that plans to build a “smart” electric grid would reduce national energy consumption between 2 and 4 percent.
Gen. Wesley Clark, an early Obama supporter who took the reins of an ethanol trade group today, said he supports the president’s energy efforts.
“I think the work that is in the stimulus package and the work that we’re doing today will move us in the direction of energy independence,” he said Thursday in a phone interview with The Washongton Times.
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