CEO Mike Thaman Joins Top Energy Influencers in Shaping U.S. Energy Policy
TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), a world leader in building materials and glass fiber reinforcements, today announced that CEO Mike Thaman will participate in The Center for American Progress Action Fund's "National Clean Energy Project" forum to be held Monday, Feb 23, in Washington, D.C. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will serve as the Honorary Chair of the event that will gather the country's most prominent government, business and nonprofit leaders to discuss ways of building a clean energy environment.
Mr. Thaman is among 30 elite leaders invited to participate in the roundtable discussion. The twin goals of this summit will be to explore ways of increasing U.S. reliance on clean energy and reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil.
"Homes and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of our nation's energy and 74 percent of all electricity consumed," said Thaman. "There are 80 million under-insulated homes in the United States. Any comprehensive energy policy must include energy efficiency and improved insulation in existing and new homes and buildings. I appreciate being part of this very important discussion."
The highly select group of participants include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman, oil executive T. Boone Pickens and environmentalist Robert Kennedy, Jr.
These and other energy and environmental thought leaders will work to develop a plan and key guiding principles that lead the transformation of U.S. energy policy and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. The forum will focus on modernizing and expanding the electricity grid, integrating energy efficiency and distributed generation into operation and regulation, rapidly increasing transmission capacity for renewable energy and reducing our nation's dependence on foreign oil by examining short- and long-term solutions to replace foreign oil with domestic resources, including natural gas.
"No discussion about energy independence is complete without addressing the need to reduce energy use in our nation's homes and buildings," said T. Boone Pickens. "Owens Corning and Mike Thaman lend a powerful voice to this important message. As a leading U.S. corporation, they understand the threat that foreign oil dependency has on our economic and national security and that conservation, efficiency and utilizing domestic fuel alternatives is critically important. Monday's energy Summit is going to be a critically important forum where we can, with the nation's political and industry leaders working together, establish the guidelines and principles that will be incorporated into our country's energy policies and legislation. I look forward to continued collaboration with Owens Corning as we work to address our country's energy solutions."
A recent survey conducted by Owens Corning found that only 27 percent of Americans correctly identified buildings as the major energy culprit. Owens Corning has worked extensively to draw attention to this important, yet overlooked fact among consumers, the building community, political and environmental leaders and others. In December 2008, Owens Corning became the first corporate supporter of T. Boone Pickens' Pickens Plan, which expanded the Plan to call for greater energy efficiency in buildings.
About Owens Corning Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is a leading global producer of residential and commercial building materials, glass fiber reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems. A Fortune 500 company for 54 consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to driving sustainability through delivering solutions, transforming markets and enhancing lives. Founded in 1938, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass fiber technology with sales of $6 billion in 2008 and 18,000 employees in 26 countries on five continents. Additional information is available at www.owenscorning.com.
About the Pickens Plan
Unveiled on July 8, 2008 by T. Boone Pickens, the Pickens Plan is a detailed solution for ending the United States' growing dependence on foreign oil. Earlier this year, when oil prices reached $140/barrel, America was spending about $700 billion for foreign oil, equaling the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. That figure has decreased some while oil prices have retreated, but the U.S. is still dependent on foreign nations for nearly 70 percent of its oil, representing a continuing national economic and national security threat. The plan calls for investing in power generation from domestic renewable resources such as wind and using our abundant supplies of natural gas as a transportation fuel, replacing more than one-third of our imported oil. More than 1,500,000 people have joined the Pickens Army through the website www.pickensplan.com, which has had over 14,000,000 hits. For more information on the Pickens Plan please visit our website.
