American President Barack Obama, in his first address to Congress on February 24, identified energy as one of the “three areas that are absolutely critical” to the economic future of the U.S.
Solar, wind and bio fuels — along with “clean coal” and battery-run cars — will receive investments of US$15 billion a year, the President said. He added that he wants to ensure that renewables eventually become a “profitable kind of energy.”
The American announcement is expected to have an impact on other OCED countries that have fallen behind in their invesment in renewable energy.
Obama is also pushing the U.S. Congress for a carbon cap-and-trade system, such as the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) that is set to begin in Australia in mid-2010.
“To … save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy,” Obama told Congress.
