Obama starts year with renewable energy pledge
John Sterlicchi, BusinessGreen,
05 Jan 2009
As president-elect Barack Obama prepares to meet with members of
Congress this week to discuss his economic stimulus package, he pledges to
make renewable energy a central component of the bail out
US president-elect Barack Obama reiterated again at the weekend that
strategic investments in renewable energy will be an integral part of his
plan to create three million new jobs over the next two years.
"To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil
tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public
buildings to make them more energy efficient," he said in the Democratic
Party's weekly radio address.
Obama offered no further specifics, but in the past he has said he will
invest $100bn (£69bn) over 10 years in clean technology and has outlined
plans for an upgraded national energy grid designed to harness and
distribute power from wind, water and other alternative energy sources.
The president-elect will meet with both Democratic and Republican members
of Congress this week to thrash out what he is calling an American
Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.
Green initiatives are expected to be central to the plan, which is
estimated to cost $775bn and will also include spending on infrastructure
and healthcare.
In his address, Obama said that the aim of the plan "not only creates jobs
in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the
long-term".
Although he is calling for bi-partisan support for his ideas, he is
unlikely to achieve that goal.
Republican governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina said the plan could be
disastrous.
"I think it has absolutely dire consequences with regard to inflation, the
middle class and all Americans will, one day, face," he said.