The Hill News

In a speech at Pennsylvania State University Thursday, President Obama proposed a suite of incentives intended to cut energy consumption from existing U.S. commercial buildings by 20 percent by 2020. This proposal is exactly what’s needed to jump-start major energy and carbon reduction initiatives and to create jobs and efficiencies that enhance our global competitiveness.

The proposal includes tax credits, loan guarantees, worker training initiatives and a competitive grant program, dubbed "Race to Green." The cost is expected to be offset elsewhere when the President’s budget is delivered later this month, but incentives such as loan guarantees do not add to government spending, and the cost of training workers is much lower than the cost of paying them unemployment benefits.

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