PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS BEFORE SIGNING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT ACT

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
April 30, 2015
Remarks by the President Before Signing The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015
Oval Office
3:06 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  It is a great pleasure to welcome some outstanding legislators and advocates on behalf of an issue that should always be bipartisan, and that is making sure that we have the most energy-efficient economy in the world.

We’ve made great strides since the beginning of my administration on everything from doubling fuel-efficiency standards on cars to incentivizing smarter policies when we build buildings so that they’re not wasting as much energy.  And thanks to the leadership of folks like Senators Shaheen and Portman and Bennet, and Representative Welch, and other folks who are here, what we’ve seen is a coming together of Republicans and Democrats who are going to facilitate us being much smarter in terms of building buildings, how we use energy and, as a consequence, we’re going to save money for consumers, we’re going to save money for businesses, and we’re going to deal with issues like climate change that have an enormous economic and health impact on Americans as a whole.

So I very much appreciate the efforts of all the organizations involved here.  Senator Franken, I should have mentioned him.  He stands out.  (Laughter.)  And I just want to say how much I appreciate the outstanding efforts that have been made in both chambers and by both parties.  I hope that we can use this to build even more progress in the future, because we’ve got a lot more work to do.  There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit -- this is the area where we can have the greatest environmental impact while making sure that we’re creating good jobs and saving businesses and consumers money.  So it’s a win-win, and I very much appreciate the strong efforts that were made by everybody behind me here today.

With that, I’m going to sign this legislation.

END