Alliance to Save Energy Response to 2005 State of the Union Address

Washington, D.C., February 2 – “Today’s economic and energy security realities dictate an immediate and fresh look at national energy policy. Spiraling energy prices are crippling industry, squeezing consumers’ pocketbooks, and causing unnecessary and sharp swings in financial markets. President Bush and the Congress, together, must do more than rehash the same old, tired energy bill that has failed in not one, but two Congresses. And energy efficiency, which offers the most immediate, cost-effective and cleanest way to extend our energy supplies, must be the basis of any meaningful domestic energy policy,” said Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan.

“Any energy bill that focuses on supply at the expense of energy efficiency forestalls relief and shortchanges our economy and U.S. energy security. We need national energy policy that capitalizes to the greatest extent possible on the benefits offered through energy-efficiency technologies and practices and conservation,” Callahan added.

“Natural gas prices have gone up by 16 percent since the beginning of the winter and home heating oil by 29 percent in the past year, and it looks like $2-a-gallon gasoline is here to stay. We need leadership from the White House to harness the power of energy efficiency – the quickest, cleanest, cheapest way to extend our nation’s energy supplies – and to help bring supply and demand back into balance,” Callahan said.