So Earth Day just passed us by not too long ago…I was wondering if President Obama was going to cease the opportunity to try and give the nation a sense confidence in our time of pressing energy and economic concerns. He delivered.
Obama made blanket comments at times during his speech, such as, "The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy -- the choice we face is between prosperity and decline," he added. "We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy.” I thought it was genius of him to grab the attention of everyone by first relating energy to the economic crisis. I honestly have never thought of the U.S. as being the big exporter of clean energy. This proposal can do nothing but give hope to everyone…saving our country by creating jobs that help the environment. He takes it a step further by proclaiming that the U.S. will lead the 21st century global economy. Hopefully his words of such confidence and hope are all realistic.
The mindset that should be maintained throughout the next several decades is: how do we solve our nation’s energy needs without compromising jobs or the wellbeing of our environment? I believe Obama is on target so far. He proposes green energy ideas and continuously supports his proposal with calculated effects. For instance, on Earth Day he said that federal waters would be opened to significant investments in clean energy – offshore wind turbines. And coastal states in the region of the offshore wind farms would receive almost 30% of the royalties generated from the production of electricity.
Obama wants $15 billion to be allocated over the next 10 years for developing wind farms, solar energy, and geothermal energy. He also wants to boost clean coal technology, similar to the British efforts, which are allowing large percentages of carbon to be captured and stored in the ground (read more here).
There is one industry that probably found the Earth Day propositions vital but disappointing…the oil industry. "As part of this comprehensive policy, we must crack down on the corporations that pollute the water we drink and the air we breathe […] tackle global warming and its potentially catastrophic effects.” We all know that the petroleum industry is responsible for a large chunk of the carbon emissions produced every day. It is only a matter of time before regulations become more strict on the effects of producing petroleum products.
Overall, Obama’s message was sent loud and clear, that he is not going to sit back and watch our nation spin its wheels when there are so many opportunities involved with green energy – a message that was much needed and hopefully not taken lightly. (more…).
1 comment:
Our drive to "go green" has its costs, too. Prepare to pay more for energy in the coming years if his "hope" and talk become reality. Also, thousands of jobs in the refining and manufacturing industry will be lost as their plants move to countries where labor and taxes are cheaper. In essence, our obsession with going green isn't green at all if we purchase goods from China or Mexico instead of producing them here. We just move our "carbon footprint" around the globe.
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