If the energy savings paid for themselves, don't you think that businesses would do this on their own?

Why does Obama think that he has to force companies to do something that he claims will save them money? What a waste of money.

With an aggressive plan that has put businesses on notice, the White House has recently targeted the country's biggest energy guzzlers: skyscrapers and buildings. Hospitals, universities and colleges, too.
Commercial and industrial buildings suck up about 49% of the country’s energy supply, worse than cars and trucks, says the Department. of Energy.
President Barack Obama has tapped former President Bill Clinton and General Electric (GE: 20.12, +0.26, +1.31%) chief executive Jeffrey Immelt to lead the way in cutting buildings’ energy usage by a fifth over the next decade.
The plan? Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks, government loans and grants. Who pays? Oil companies, with potentially $39 billion in tax hikes.
Ironically, the Government Accountability Office says the federal government is the nation’s single largest energy consumer, its buildings making up 35% of the government’s energy consumption. . . .