Americas

Americas

Obama announces $4 bln energy saving program

02 December 2011 19:08 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. As yet another move to create jobs, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday nearly 4 billion dollars’ investment plan in energy upgrades to public and private buildings over the next two years, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Obama made the announcement with former President Bill Clinton and representatives from more than 60 organizations as part of the Better Buildings Challenges in Washington DC.

"Upgrading the energy efficiency of America’s buildings is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now," said Obama. "But we can’t wait for Congress to act."

The president directed all federal agencies to market at least 2 billion dollars’ worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years.

The White House said these investments will save billions in energy costs, promote energy independence, and create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction sector.

Besides the 2-billion-dollar commitment from the government’s energy saving, 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents, and labor leaders are committed to invest nearly 2 billion of private capital into energy efficiency projects.

Clinton calls it "the nearest thing we’ve got to a free lunch in a tough economy."

In early September, Obama launched a 450-billion-dollar job act. However, it has been blocked by the Congress due to opposition from the Republicans.

With unemployment rate lingering above 9 percent for the most part of this year, the Obama administration has been promoting several executive measures to create jobs without the help from the Congress.