By Agri-Pulse Staff
© Copyright Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.
Washington, Oct. 1 – Calling clean energy the basis for “our continued prosperity, security, and environmental health” Friday, President Obama proclaimed October as National Energy Awareness Month. He said there's a clear choice “between embracing the possibilities of a new clean energy economy and settling for the status quo, and between leading the world in clean energy and lagging behind.”
Obama said continuing investment in clean energy technologies is essential “to position our country for a sustainable future, create new jobs, improve the health of our environment, and lay the foundation for our long-term economic security and prosperity . . . Every year our over-dependence on fossil fuels sends billions of dollars overseas to buy foreign oil instead of supporting American workers and farmers, rewarding innovation, and developing clean energy industries here at home.”
Obama said the federal government's investment in clean energy is “expanding manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies, advancing vehicle and fuel technologies, spurring the development of renewable fuels, and catalyzing progress towards a bigger, better, smarter electric grid, all while creating new jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.” He said the government is leading by example through steps “to improve its energy efficiency, increase its use of renewable energy, cut greenhouse gas pollution, and leverage its purchasing power to advance a clean energy economy.” He said such steps by government and the private sector “must mark the start, not the end, of our efforts.”
Warning that “countries around the world are competing to create the clean energy economy and jobs of tomorrow,” Obama predicted that “the country that harnesses the power of clean energy will lead the global economy. As a Nation of scientists and engineers, farmers and entrepreneurs, we must continue to invest in clean, domestic sources of energy, harness the innovation of our brightest minds, promote our world-leading industries, and find lasting solutions to our energy challenges.”
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