{"id":580965,"date":"2010-05-27T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2010-05-27T15:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/?p=26145"},"modified":"2010-05-27T11:38:14","modified_gmt":"2010-05-27T15:38:14","slug":"obama-%e2%80%9cclimate-change-poses-a-threat-to-our-way-of-life-%e2%80%9d-starts-the-pivot-from-spill-to-bill-im-going-to-keep-fighting-to-pass-comprehensive-energy-and-climate-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/580965","title":{"rendered":"Obama: \u201cClimate change poses a threat to our way of life.\u201d – Starts the pivot from spill to bill: “I’m going to keep fighting to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obama will be holding a press conference about the BP oil disaster today at 12:45 p.m. eastern time.\u00a0 You can watch the conference live at this link: http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/live<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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We\u2019re not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use.\u00a0 This planet can\u2019t sustain it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Obama gave a big speech at Solyndra<\/a>, a\u00a0California solar manufacturing plant, yesterday, which I’ll excerpt below.\u00a0 For background on Solyndra, see “First Energy Department loan guarantee goes to \u2026 a solar manufacturer<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

DotEarth opinion blogger Andy Revkin just tweeted<\/a>,<\/p>\n

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Obama sci chief: POTUS will give major speech on climate (not imminent). “He believes it, he understands it, we\u2019re going to get it done<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here are excerpts from Obama’s speech:<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve got to go back to basics.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to go back to making things.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to go back to exports.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to go back to innovation.\u00a0 And we recognized that there was only so much government could do.\u00a0 The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra, will always be America\u2019s businesses.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t mean the government can just sit on the sidelines.\u00a0 Government still has the responsibility to help create the conditions in which students can gain an education so they can work at Solyndra, and entrepreneurs can get financing so they can start a company, and new industries can take hold.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s why, even as we cut taxes and provided emergency relief over the past year — we also invested in basic research, in broadband networks, in rebuilding roads and bridges, in health information technology, and in clean energy.\u00a0 Because not only would this spur hiring by businesses — it would create jobs in sectors with incredible potential to propel our economy for years, for decades to come.\u00a0 There is no better example than energy.<\/p>\n

We all know the price we pay as a country as a result of how we produce and use — and, yes, waste — energy today.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been talking about it for decades — since the gas shortages of the 1970s.\u00a0 Our dependence on foreign oil endangers our security and our economy.\u00a0 Climate change poses a threat to our way of life — in fact, we\u2019re already beginning to see its profound and costly impact.<\/strong> And the spill in the Gulf, which is just heartbreaking, only underscores the necessity of seeking alternative fuel sources. <\/strong> We\u2019re not going to transition out of oil next year or 10 years from now.\u00a0 But think about it, part of what\u2019s happening in the Gulf is that oil companies are drilling a mile underwater before they hit ground, and then a mile below that before they hit oil.<\/p>\n

With the increased risks, the increased costs, it gives you a sense of where we\u2019re going.\u00a0 We\u2019re not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use. <\/strong> This planet can\u2019t sustain it.\u00a0 Think about when China and India — where consumers there are starting to buy cars and use energy the way we are.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve known that we\u2019ve had to shift in a fundamental way, and that\u2019s true for all of us.<\/p>\n

Now, earlier today I spoke to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who, as you know, is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist.\u00a0 And he\u2019s been on the scene in the Gulf, deeply involved in our efforts to bring this crisis to an end….<\/p>\n

… a lot of damage has been done already — livelihoods destroyed, landscapes scarred, wildlife affected.\u00a0 Lives have been lost.\u00a0 Our thoughts and prayers are very much with the people along the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

And let me reiterate:\u00a0 We will not rest until this well is shut, the environment is repaired, and the cleanup is complete. <\/strong>And I look forward to returning there on Friday to review the efforts currently underway and lend my support to the region.<\/p>\n

But even as we are dealing with this immediate crisis, we\u2019ve got to remember that the risks our current dependence on oil holds for our environment and our coastal communities is not the only cost involved in our dependence on these fossil fuels.\u00a0 Around the world, from China to Germany, our competitors are waging a historic effort to lead in developing new energy technologies.\u00a0 There are factories like this being built in China, factories like this being built in Germany.\u00a0 Nobody is playing for second place.\u00a0 These countries recognize that the nation that leads the clean energy economy is likely to lead the global economy.\u00a0 And if we fail to recognize that same imperative, we risk falling behind.\u00a0 We risk falling behind.<\/p>\n

Fifteen years ago, the United States produced 40 percent of the world\u2019s solar panels — 40 percent.\u00a0 That was just 15 years ago.\u00a0 By 2008, our share had fallen to just over 5 percent. <\/strong>I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m not prepared to cede American leadership in this industry, because I\u2019m not prepared to cede America\u2019s leadership in the global economy.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s why we\u2019ve placed a big emphasis on clean energy.\u00a0 It\u2019s the right thing to do for our environment, it\u2019s the right thing to do for our national security, but it\u2019s also the right thing to do for our economy.<\/p>\n

And we can see the positive impacts right here at Solyndra.\u00a0 Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot.\u00a0 But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations.\u00a0 This new factory is the result of those loans.<\/p>\n

Since the project broke ground last fall, more than 3,000 construction workers have been employed building this plant.\u00a0 Across the country, workers — (applause) — across the country, workers in 22 states are manufacturing the supplies for this project.\u00a0 Workers in a dozen states are building the advanced manufacturing equipment that will power this new facility.\u00a0 When it\u2019s completed in a few months, Solyndra expects to hire a thousand workers to manufacture solar panels and sell them across America and around the world…..<\/p>\n

But thanks to loans through the Department of Energy, which helped provide Tesla motors with the financial wherewithal to expand, that shuttered plant is soon going to reopen.\u00a0 (Applause.)\u00a0 And once again — once again, it will be a symbol of promise, an example of what\u2019s possible here in America.<\/p>\n

Tesla is joining with Toyota in a venture to put a thousand skilled workers back to work manufacturing an all-electric car.\u00a0 (Applause.)\u00a0 And this is only the beginning.\u00a0 We\u2019re investing in advanced battery technologies to power plug-in hybrid cars.\u00a0 In fact, today in Tennessee there\u2019s a groundbreaking for an advanced battery manufacturing facility that will generate hundreds of jobs.\u00a0 And it was made possible by loans through the Department of Energy, as well as tax credits and grants to increase demand for these vehicles.<\/p>\n

We used to account for about 2 percent of advanced battery technologies for cars.\u00a0 We\u2019re expecting, in the next couple years, to get up to 20, 30, maybe even 40 percent, building our market share right here in the United States of America.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re investing in an advanced electricity grid.\u00a0 And Governor Schwarzenegger and I were just talking about this before we came out, because this has been a big priority for him — that will be more efficient and better able to harness renewable energy sources.\u00a0 We\u2019re providing grants to build wind farms and install these solar panels, helping us double our ability to generate renewable energy.\u00a0 We\u2019re expanding our capacity in biofuels to reduce our dependence on oil.\u00a0 We\u2019ve helped forge one historic agreement — and are on track to produce a second — to dramatically increase the fuel efficiency of America\u2019s cars and trucks.\u00a0 So we are making progress.\u00a0 It\u2019s progress that\u2019s going to produce jobs, that\u2019s going to help secure our future.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019ve still got more work to do, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m going to keep fighting to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation in Washington.\u00a0 (Applause.)\u00a0 We\u2019re going to try to get it done this year, because what we want to do is create incentives that will fully unleash the potential for jobs and growth in this sector.<\/p>\n

Already we\u2019re seeing the results of the steps we\u2019ve taken.\u00a0 As I said, before the Recovery Act, we had the capacity to make less than 2 percent of the world\u2019s advanced vehicle batteries.\u00a0 In the next five years, we\u2019ll make 40 percent of these batteries here in the United States.\u00a0 Before the Recovery Act, we could build just 5 percent of the world\u2019s solar panels.\u00a0 In the next few years, we\u2019re going to double our share to more than 10 percent.<\/p>\n

Here at this site, Solyndra expects to make enough solar panels each year to generate 500 megawatts of electricity.\u00a0 And over the lifetime of this expanded facility, that could be like replacing as many as eight coal-fired power plants.\u00a0 It\u2019s also worth noting, to achieve this doubling of our share of solar capacity, we actually need to make four times as many solar panels, because other countries are adding capacity, too.\u00a0 Nobody in this race is standing still.<\/p>\n

So these steps are helping to safeguard our environment.\u00a0 They\u2019re helping to lower our dependence on oil.\u00a0 At a time when people are struggling and looking for work, these steps are helping to strengthen our economy and create jobs.\u00a0 We all know how important that is, because times here in California are still tough.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to take time to replace the millions of jobs we lost in this recession.<\/p>\n

Unemployment remains high, even though the economy is growing and has started adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.\u00a0 So it took years to dig our way into this hole; we\u2019re not going to dig our way out overnight.\u00a0 But what you are proving here — all of you, collectively — is that as difficult as it will be, as far as we\u2019ve got to go, we will recover.\u00a0 We will rebuild.\u00a0 We will emerge from this period of turmoil stronger than ever before.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all.\u00a0 You\u2019re also proving something more.\u00a0 Every day that you build this expanded facility, as you fill orders for solar panels to ship around the world, you\u2019re demonstrating that the promise of clean energy isn\u2019t just an article of faith — not anymore.\u00a0 It\u2019s not some abstract possibility for science fiction movies or a distant future — 10 years down the road or 20 years down the road.\u00a0 It\u2019s happening right now.\u00a0 The future is here.\u00a0 We\u2019re poised to transform the ways we power our homes and our cars and our businesses.\u00a0 And we\u2019re poised to lead our competitors in the development of new technologies and products and businesses.\u00a0 And we are poised to generate countless new jobs, good-paying middle-class jobs, right here in the United States of America.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the promise of clean energy.\u00a0 And thanks to the men and women here today — and the innovators and the workers all across America — it\u2019s a promise that we\u2019ve already begun to fulfill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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