Obama gets specific on new US renewables and energy efficiency policy
Vienna, 16.01.2009 - REEEP International Secretariat
President-elect Obama has underlined his incoming administration's commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency with specific measures.
In his weekly radio address on January 10th, the President-elect said "We'll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy - by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can't be outsourced."
The inauguaration of Barack Obama as President of the United States on January 20th also brings with it the strong hope that America will take a leading role in addressing the climate change issue.
Reuters quotes Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat as saying "President-elect Obama has said some very encouraging things about his domestic ambitions and his will to engage internationally . . . I think that will be a very constructive contribution to the process as we move forward."
Sources: Office of the President-elect, Reuters