Owens Corning CEO Mike Thaman Joins President Obama to Discuss Job Creation

TOLEDO, Ohio - Mike Thaman, chairman and chief executive officer of Owens Corning, a leading producer of insulation, yesterday met with U.S. President Barack Obama and four members of the labor and business communities in a roundtable discussion to talk about job creation and energy efficiency. The meeting was held at The Home Depot store in Alexandria, Va.

"We applaud President Obama's leadership in driving policy that promotes job creation and energy efficiency. The need to take further action is evident," Thaman said. "To the extent that there will be an effort in Washington to create jobs, we believe in putting people back to work in a way that makes homes more energy efficient.

"To be effective, the approach must be direct, simple and targeted," added Thaman. "This is a great opportunity to create sustainable jobs and improve the energy efficiency of America's homes."

In a statement after the meeting, President Obama called on Congress to establish incentives for Americans to make energy efficiency retrofit investments in their homes, saying they would help the United States turn the corner on energy efficiency while putting Americans back to work.

President Obama said, "Our homes and offices consume almost 40 percent of the energy we use. Because most of our homes and offices aren't energy efficient, much of that energy just goes to waste, while costing our families and businesses money they can't afford to throw away. The simple act of retrofitting these buildings to make them more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work while saving money and reducing harmful emissions."

"I know the idea may not be very glamorous, although I get really excited about it," President Obama said. "We were at the roundtable and somebody said, 'Insulation's not sexy.' I disagree. Insulation is sexy stuff. Here's what's sexy about it: saving money."

President Obama added, "This is a smart thing to do. We've got to get beyond this point where we think that being smart on energy is a job destroyer. It is a job creator."