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Obama insists energy and climate bill is still on

President Obama said yesterday that passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation is still possible, just days after efforts in Congress were derailed by an immigration row.

The President toured the Siemens wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, yesterday, and stressed the importance of the clean energy industry.

He said the “country that leads the clean-energy economy will be the country that leads the 21st century global economy”, but noted that countries like China and Spain were currently taking the lead.

I believe that we can come together around this issue” - President Obama

“I don’t accept second place for the United States of America,” the President said.

“I believe that we can come together around this issue and pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that will ignite new industries, spark new jobs in towns just like Fort Madison, make America more energy-independent. Our security, our economy, the future of our planet all depend on it.”

Efforts by Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Liebermann to put together an energy and climate bill acceptable to both sides of the political debate were put on hold at the weekend (see BrighterEnergy.org).

Senator Graham has said he will not move forward with the bill until the Democrats step down regarding their sudden push for an immigration bill, which itself is seen as a response to the state of Arizona’s new anti-immigrant legislation.

Environmentalists are still optimistic that the energy and climate bill can be salvaged before this session’s time runs out in Congress.

Kevin Knobloch of the Union of Concerned Scientists said: “Climate and energy legislation has survived dozens of premature eulogies. This is a murmur, not a heart attack. Senators need to overcome their political disagreements and do what’s right for our country.”

Siemens

The President’s visit to the Fort Madison blade factory highlighted the impact of tax credits in supporting new American jobs.

The 600,000 sq. ft. facility fabricates blades for Siemens’ 2.3-megawatt wind turbines, and has seen 400 jobs created in the last two years.

This year it has been awarded a further $3.5 million in tax credits from the Recovery Act to secure additional blade molds and increase production of its next generation blade, which is designed to improve wind harvesting in low-wind conditions.

Speaking after his tour of the plant, President Obama said: “Each new wind farm has the potential to create hundreds of construction jobs, and dozens of permanent local jobs in communities just like Fort Madison.”

The President said he believed wind energy would generate 20% of America’s electricity within two decades – it currently accounts for less than 2%.

Siemens is currently building a new factory in Hutchinson, Kansas, which will see the assembly of wind turbine nacelles – the central part of the turbine that houses the generating components.

Some 400 jobs will be created in that project by 2012, the manufacturer says.

Peter Loescher, president and CEO of Siemens, said: “We have been investing and growing our business in America for over 100 years – investing $25 billion in the last 10 years alone. I would like to thank the President for allowing our employees to show him, personally, how plants like this can help America as she races forward in a clean technology revolution that has allowed us to create more than 1000 jobs recently.”