President Obama portrayed himself as a business-loving centrist today at a Business Roundtable.\u00a0\u00a0 Obama is stepping up his pursuit of an energy\/jobs\/climate bill and he did say that we need to address climate change. But as always, he emphasized jobs and the economy, calling this the ‘lost decade’. Though it was a good speech,\u00a0 it was uninspired-sounding. (possibly due to his audience; see photo below.)\u00a0\u00a0 You can read a summary of his remarks here.\u00a0\u00a0 He also said we need a price on carbon.<\/p>\n
If this helps sell a climate bill it will be worth it.\u00a0 He did say quite a bit about energy and climate and keeping America competitive through keeping up with the rest of the world.\u00a0 Here are those remarks from the transcript:<\/p>\n
[President Obama]:\u00a0 “A competitive America is also America that finally has a smart energy policy.\u00a0 We know there’s no silver bullet here.\u00a0 We understand that to reduce our dependence on oil and the damage caused by climate change, we’re going to need more production in the short term, we’re going to need more efficiency, and we need more incentives for clean energy.<\/p>\n
Business Roundtable audience. Are the people who run America's businesses really this homogenous? Capitalism needs some diversity! Photo from whitehouse.gov<\/p>\n
And already, the Recovery Act has allowed us to jumpstart the clean energy industry in America -\u2013 an investment that will lead to 720,000 clean energy jobs by the year 2012.\u00a0 To take just one example, the United States used to make less than 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries for hybrid cars.\u00a0 By 2015, we\u2019ll have enough capacity to make up to 40 percent of these batteries.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve also launched an unprecedented effort to make our homes and businesses more energy efficient.\u00a0 We\u2019ve announced loan guarantees to break ground on America\u2019s first new nuclear plant in nearly three decades.\u00a0 We\u2019re supporting three of the largest solar plants in the world.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve said that we\u2019re willing to make tough decisions about opening up new offshore areas for oil and gas development.\u00a0 So what we’re looking at is a comprehensive strategy, not an either\/or strategy but a both\/and strategy when it comes to energy.<\/p>\n
But to truly transition to a clean energy economy, I\u2019ve also said that we need to put a price on carbon pollution.\u00a0 Many businesses have embraced this approach — including some who are represented here today.\u00a0 Still, I am sympathetic to those companies that face significant potential transition costs, and I want to work with this organization and others like this to help with those costs and to get our policies right.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What we can\u2019t do is stand still.\u00a0 The only certainty of the status quo is that the price and supply of oil will become increasingly volatile; that the use of fossil fuels will wreak havoc on weather patterns and air quality.\u00a0 But if we decide now that we\u2019re putting a price on this [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Obama portrayed himself as a business-loving centrist today at a Business Roundtable.\u00a0\u00a0 Obama is stepping up his pursuit of an energy\/jobs\/climate bill and he did say that we need to address climate change. But as always, he emphasized jobs … Continue reading