On Feb. 5, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum telling the Energy Department to hurry up already with setting standards for appliance efficiency.

The memo begins with a brief history of energy policy law and a description of a lawsuit against the DOE, forcing it to set required energy standards.

"In November 2006, the DOE entered into a consent decree under which the DOE agreed to publish final rules regarding 22 product categories by specific deadlines, the latest of which is June 30, 2011. ... The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) directed the DOE to establish energy standards for additional product categories," the memo states.

The memo then directs the DOE to take "all necessary steps ... to finalize legally required efficiency standards as expeditiously as possible and consistent with all applicable judicial and statutory deadlines."

After signing the memo, Obama said, "This will save consumers money, this will spur innovation, and this will conserve tremendous amounts of energy. We'll save through these simple steps over the next 30 years the amount of energy produced over a two-year period by all the coal-fired power plants in America."

The memo is a first step toward new appliance requirements. We rate this promise In The Works.