Good news from Climate Progress:
Energy efficiency alone could cheaply--and often profitably--provide two-thirds the necessary greenhouse gas reductions to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050--a level based on the science-driven conclusion that the risks of dangerous climate impacts rise sharply as planetary warming exceeds 2°C from preindustrial levels. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454—which passed the House and is now pending in the Senate—recognizes and invests in the economic benefits of energy efficiency.
The bill would provide up to $65 billion in allowances from 2012 to 2020 for state and local government energy efficiency programs ... The state and local programs in ACES would create up to 137,000 jobs in 2015 from energy efficiency investments that year. It would save consumers up to $63 billion on their electricity bills from 2012-2020, while reducing enough greenhouse gas pollution during this period to equal taking 26.5 million cars off the road.