Energy efficiency can only help if the reserve capacity thereby gained is not used for further economic growth. Using efficiency gains for economic and population growth is, ultimately, suicidal since it reduces reserve capacity/resilience to zero. Highly efficient systems are not robust! Instead they are very vulnerable to collapse through resource shocks.
Energy efficiency + steady state economy/population = survival
Energy efficiency + growth = suicide.

Very very very good point michael.

Rather than increasing network and generation augmentation, we can unleash extra capacity with a national, accelerated roll-out of interval meters to every home and business, with time of use tariffs.

I have one already, it has been a great thing. A lot of consumers can even save a bit.

It works by getting people to use certain high-load appliances during periods of surplus capacity in the network, therefore reducing peak period strains.

The author writes:

"Failure of local and regional agencies to control sprawl, the spreading of suburban areas over rural land, has contributed to growth in vehicle traffic and to energy-inefficient urban systems. The federal government redistributes gasoline tax revenues to states and municipalities based on highway use, doing little to boost public-transit alternatives.

In most states, natural gas and electric utilities face little incentive to promote efficient use of energy by their customers because utility profits are tied to sales. A utility’s rates are typically set based on an estimation of cost of providing services over some period of time, divided by an assumed level of sales over that period. If actual sales are less than projected sales, the utility earns less. Today, profits of most utilities shrink when customers make their homes more efficient by upgrading to Energy Star appliances or generate their own electricity with rooftop solar panels."

Obama can do very little concerning the above. Land zoning and use is largely controlled by the states. Federal law in the United States cannot override state law except in areas determined to be under federal jurisdiction by Constitutional law. Utility pricing and policies are also mainly under state law.

It is not hiding in plain sight. It is at the fore front of existing efforts.

The only way to motivate this is by making carbon more expensive. Everyone will then feel the need to economise.

This would mean that a carbon tax would be far easier to implement and monitor than a cumbersome and inelegant carbon trading scheme. The taxes from this can be used to replace other means such as payroll tax.

A major impediment to increased energy efficiency here is the privatised electricity companies - they want us to use as much as they can provide to boost their bottom line. If we curtail our usage they will go the route of Melbourne water and ramp up service delivery charges so there are no overall savings, which removes the financial incentive to be efficient. Sadly, I can't see any of our governments looking past the possible loss of donations from the carbon energy industry to do anything worthwhile on this front.