By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Calling clean energy as the answer for a nation concerned about both jobs and rising gas prices, US President Barack Obama would rather have new breakthrough technologies developed in the US than in China, India or South Korea.
“We’re in a competition all around the world, and other countries – Germany, China, South Korea – they know that clean energy technology is what is going to help spur job creation and economic growth for years to come,” he told workers at an Indianapolis transmission plant Friday.
“And that’s why we’ve got to make sure that we win that competition,” Obama said. “I don’t want the new breakthrough technologies and the new manufacturing taking place in China and India.”
“I want all those new jobs right here in Indiana, right here in the United States of America, with American workers, American know-how, American ingenuity,” he said.
“This is also where a clean energy economy is being built,” Obama told workers at Allison Transmission, a leader in developing hybrid transmissions. “This is the kind of company that will make sure that America remains the most prosperous nation in the world.”
The nation, he said, wants to know where the jobs are, and what will be done about gasoline that now costs more than $4 per gallon.
“The reason I’m here today,” he said, “is because the answers to these questions are right here at Allison, right here in these vehicles, right here in these transmissions.”
“This is where the American economy is rebuilt, where we are regaining our footing,” Obama said.
Last year, he said, the US reached its highest level of oil production since 2003. But with only 2 percent to 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, it’s not enough for a nation that consumes about 25 percent of the oil.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])