There's still hope for Home Star. No, really.

Home-energy pros aren't holding their breath, but there is quiet hope in the community that the program known as Cash for Caulkers will be part of President Obama's jobs speech next week. Officially called Home Star, the program would give billions in rebates to homeowners who make their residences more energy efficient. "Would," however, is the operative word.

The House of Representatives originally passed H.R. 5019, the Homestar Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, back in May 2010. But it met stiff opposition from Republicans ("We are going to authorize $6.6 billion of money we don't have so we can caulk homes?" then House Minority Leader John Boehner asked), and the headwinds only stiffened in the Senate. The legislation appeared left for dead by year's end, and that was before any real talk of debt crises and downgrades had surfaced.

But Home Star still has a pulse, mainly because it does hold some promise of job creation—168,000 new positions in construction and related industries over the next two years, according to program advocates. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and John Podesta, president of the liberal group Center for American Progress, have been urging Obama to announce new green jobs initiatives, including Home Star. "Get those... retrofits going, get those home products rolling out the door," Podesta said in an interview with National Journal. "I think there will be a lot of the support for this in Home Depots and Walmarts—90 percent of that content is made domestically."

Consumer Reports hasn't looked closely at the job-stimulating benefits of home-energy retrofits, but we can tell you these measures will definitely lower your utility bills. In the October 2011 issue of Consumer Reports, which comes out next week, we look at some of the latest developments, including LEDs, wind turbines, and cool roofs.

—Daniel DiClerico