One of President Obama's first acts was to call for a revolution in energy efficiency. Simply by making our appliances and electronics use less energy, Americans can save money, create jobs and fight global warming. Efficiency is the fastest, cleanest and cheapest energy source.

It's not just about changing light bulbs. It's about setting benchmarks to make all the products we use more efficient. Adopting strong national energy efficiency standards could save consumers $16 billion a year in utility bills by 2030.

President Obama directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to review appliance standards for the appliances that will save the most energy and the most money. On June 30, the president announced new standards for fluorescent light tubes that will save enough energy annually to power all U.S. homes for almost a year, while saving consumers $1 billion to $4 billion a year in utility bills. In the coming months, standards will be reviewed for refrigerators, clothes washers, air conditioners, water heaters, and even drink vending machines.

And that's not all:

» Adopting the strongest achievable efficiency standards for all appliances to be reviewed would eliminate the need for 200 new power plants.

» These standards would cut emissions of 150 million metric tons of global warming gases each year.

» Achieving President Obama's goal of cutting Americans' use of electricity by 15%, plus cutting natural gas use by 10%, would create 222,000 permanent net jobs by 2020.

It's a no-brainer. But lobbyists for manufacturers like General Electric, Whirlpool and Sylvania don't get it. They argue that the weak economy means we can't afford to make our appliances more efficient—when the truth is we can't afford not to.

Tell Energy Secretary Steven Chu to stand up to those who would hold America back. The more comments DOE receives from ordinary Americans in support of efficiency, the more they'll be encouraged to set ambitious standards.

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