May 7, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL) today voted for the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, legislation that would create nearly 170,000 jobs by investing in the clean energy economy. The bill would provide rebates to homeowners who install energy-saving products and reduce energy use in their homes.
The bill features two levels of rebates that will help an estimated 3 million American homeowners. The Silver Star program would provide rebates of up to $3,000 for the installation of proven energy-saving technologies such as insulation, duct sealing, window and door improvements, air sealing, and advanced water heaters. The Gold Star program would reward homeowners with up to $8,000 for conducting a comprehensive energy audit and substantially reducing their energy use at home. The resulting construction jobs cannot be outsourced and more than 90 percent of energy efficiency technologies are manufactured here in America.
“This legislation will have a myriad of positive effects on our nation and its economy,” Hare said. “Consumers will use less energy and be able to keep more of their hard earned money, job opportunities will increase in the growing clean energy field, and we will begin to wean ourselves off of foreign oil.”
Hare has been actively pursuing clean energy as a way to address our unemployment crisis. Last month, he introduced the Security in Energy and Manufacturing (SEAM) Act, legislation that would begin to restore our manufacturing base by creating many permanent, high-paying jobs in the clean energy industry. The bill would continue and improve an extremely successful program that provides a 30 percent tax credit for the creation of new manufacturing facilities that produce alternative energy components.
