Energy Secretary Steven Chu and President Barack Obama
At a White House press conference today President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu revealed several actions they claimed would promote energy efficiency while saving Americans billions of dollars annually.
Some of the mandates include forced changes on energy conservation standards for household and commercial lighting and forced changes on incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
My wife has already made me replace some of the compact fluorescent lights (CFL) in some parts of our house, so I’m not sure she’ll be happy with these lighting changes mandated for 2012.
Do common citizens understand today’s light bulb mandates? Will common citizens only find out when some light bulbs may no longer be available for purchase in 2012, or only at a much higher price then?
President Obama’s statement about the California economy to justify the energy changes seems incredible:
We know the benefits. In the late 1970s, the state of California enacted tougher energy-efficiency policies. Over the next three decades, those policies helped create almost 1.5 million jobs. And today, Californians consume 40 percent less energy per person than the national average — which, over time, has prevented the need to build at least 24 new power plants. Think about that. California — producing jobs, their economy keeping pace with the rest of the country, and yet they have been able to maintain their energy usage at a much lower level than the rest of the country.
Why is President Obama trying to say the California economy is “keeping pace” when California is having a far deeper economic crisis than most of the country? Is it possible that 40% less enegy per person in California is an enegy stranglehold and a limit on business opportunities there?
About the same time President Obama made his statement above, the Associated Press released a story, “Ailing California economy could prolong recession.”
California faces a $24 billion budget shortfall, an eye-popping amount that dwarfs many states’ entire annual spending plans.
Is it possible that over the last three decades of imposed energy regulations in California, the net effect on California businesses has contributed to their economic crises now? With new national energy mandates, will three decades of California-like energy policies help U.S. business competitiveness in the World when California’s example now is far from a thriving economy?
The American people deserve a better explanation from President Obama about economic successes of the energy mandates than citing a failed California economy, and saying California is “keeping pace” when they are a drag on the rest of the country.
Tags: California Economy, Energy Policy, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Improving Energy Efficiency, President Barack Obama
