Barack Obama today declared the billions of dollars he is planning to spend on renewable energy projects off-limits to the usual bartering over the next few weeks with Congress.
The
president, on the first day of a week-long blitz aimed at selling his
ambitious $3tn (£2tn) spending budget, said the $129bn allocated for
encouraging the use of solar power, hybrid cars and renewable energy
projects would not be subject to any of the usual wheeling and dealing
between the White House and Congress.
His pledge on clean energy
came as the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) made a potentially
historic shift, telling the White House that global warming was
endangering public health. It comes after years of resistance by George
Bush.
The move by the EPA could lead to nationwide measures to limit carbon emissions in the US.
Defending
his planned spending on renewable energy, Obama said: "We can remain
the world's leader of exporting foreign oil or become the leading
exporter of renewable energy ... we have known the right choice for a
generation."
He was speaking after meeting clean energy
entrepreneurs at the White House today. Obama told them he hoped they
could help the US out of recession by creating 300,000 jobs, end
dependency on oil from the Middle East and elsewhere and combat climate
change. "At this moment of necessity, we need you," he said.
Republican
and Democratic congressional members are growing increasingly sceptical
about the scale of Obama's budget and he faces a fight preventing
Congress cutting it back, with his energy plans among the most
vulnerable measures.
The White House, in a factsheet issued
today, said his budget would provide $75bn over the next 10 years to
make permanent existing tax cuts for clean energy and that his $787bn
economic stimulus package aimed at helping the US out of recession
included $39bn for clean energy projects and $20bn in tax incentives.
Jared
Bernstein, a White House economics adviser, said Obama was prepared to
negotiate details with clean energy entrepreneurs but not with
Congress. Bernstein added that the administration was going to stand
very firm on clean energy.
Obama is facing opposition to his
budget from conservatively fiscal Democrats worried about the size of
his spending plans and from Republicans opposed to plans to penalise
high pollution companies.
As part of his big sell, Obama is
holding a primetime television press conference tomorrow night and is
to meet members of Congress on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Today,
he pointed to projects involving energy storage, super-efficient
engines, cheap solar cells, advanced batteries needed for hybrid cars
and microchips that maximise energy savings.
Among projects on
show at the White House were a light pipe that brings natural light
indoors without consuming electricity and a window company that helps
with energy savings. Obama said the latter had re-opened a disused
factory in Pennsylvania and was taking on 100 workers.
But the
White House could face problems in spending the money put aside to
encourage clean energy as many firms in the sector have been laying
people off.
(c) The Guardian
Trackback(0)
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comment form