Celia Israel: “30 years ago President Carter declared the moral equivalent of war on foreign oil. We have done two things in those 30…”

“30 years ago President Carter declared the moral equivalent of war on foreign oil. We have done two things in those 30 years: we have slashed Federal investments in research and development for energy efficiency and renewables by 85 percent; and we have doubled our imports of oil. In the past 2 years, we have corrected our top down investments. We are investing more in energy efficiency, but we have missed the most critical three words in the debate: return on investment. We need to find ways to make it easier for people to purchase energy efficient windows, to retrofit their homes, and that is exactly what this bill does. It gives consumers rebates of up to $3,000, it lowers utility bills, and it creates jobs. It creates jobs by allowing people to go to their stores to buy their windows and equipment. That means somebody is going to need to manufacture that equipment and install that equipment. This is a way of creating jobs and enhancing our energy security. It is a way of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. This is a critically important bill from a national security perspective and an economic security perspective. I support it wholeheartedly.”