Editing HOME STAR (section)

==Background==
In late 2009 there was a broad perception that the United States economy was beginning to recover from the [[Late-2000s recession]]. There was a broad perception that government spending authorized by the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]] had contributed to the recovery, and some desire for the government to do more to encourage job growth and a faster recovery.<ref name=nyt/>

In mid-November former president [[Bill Clinton]], and [[John Doerr]] of [[Barack Obama]]'s [[President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board]], proposed different versions of an [[economic stimulus]] program by which the government would offer [[tax incentive]]s to encourage people to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|work=New York Times|title=A Stimulus That Could Save Money|author=David Leonhardt|author-link=David Leonhardt|date=2009-11-17|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/economy/18leonhardt.html?_r=1}}</ref>  Doerr, in public speeches, called the proposal "cash for caulkers". Separately [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Peter Welch]] proposed a system of energy rebates to [[Rahm Emanuel]], Obama’s [[White House Chief of Staff|Chief of Staff]].<ref name=bb>{{cite news|publisher=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aNGrRkT7GyQ0|title=Obama's 'Cash for Caulkers' May Help Insulation Sales, Dow Says|author=Daniel Whitten|date=2009-12-09}}</ref>  Obama, in turn, proposed the idea as part of a larger new stimulus program, at a speech at the [[Brookings Institution]] on December 8, 2009.<ref>{{cite news|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/politics/09jobs.html?dbk|date=2009-12-09|title=Obama Offers Help for Small Businesses | first=Jackie | last=Calmes | access-date=2010-05-04}}</ref>

The stated goals of the proposed program are to reduce pollution, particularly [[greenhouse gas]]es, by reducing household energy use, to save consumers money in the long term through lower power bills, and to stimulate American businesses through the money spent on appliances, materials, and installation. Improving the energy efficiency of "fixed infrastructure", which accounts for approximately 40% of all energy use in the United States, is considered the "low hanging fruit" of [[energy conservation]] - a step that achieves results relatively inexpensively and does not require any new technologies or changes to production or consumption methods.<ref>{{cite news|author=Justin Moresco|publisher=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS370360146420091118|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228100011/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS370360146420091118|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-12-28|title="Cash for Caulkers" Could Deliver $23B for Home Energy Efficiency|date=2009-11-18}}</ref>

The name "Homestar" is a reference to the popular [[energy star]] electronic device efficiency rating system, and the nickname "Cash for Caulkers" is a play on the earlier [[cash for clunkers]] automobile trade-in incentive.<ref name=bb/>