Despite sustained criticisms from the oil industry and his presumptive general election opponent on energy issues, President Barack Obama has, in recent weeks, not shied away from his support of alternate fuels and clean technologies. The campaign highlighted this part of his platform in one of its early ads, while the White House added the issue to the to-do list of bills it wants to see pushed through Congress before summer recess.
On Thursday, Obama will make the case once more, highlighting his administration's commitment to investing in clean energy and manufacturing while pressing Congress to act on wind energy subsidies during his third visit this year to Iowa, a potentially significant battleground state. The president will tour and deliver remarks at wind manufacturer TPI Composites in Newton.
A Democratic source passed along the talking points that the White House is sending to allies with respect to the latest clean energy platform.
- Earlier this month the President called on Congress to act on a “To-Do List” that’ll create jobs and help restore middle class security.
- Tomorrow the President will travel to TPI Composites to highlight the need to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and develop more secure domestic energy sources by investing in clean energy manufacturing.
- He will call on Congress to pass legislation that will extend the PTC to support American jobs and manufacturing in the wind industry alongside an expansion of the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit that supports American-made clean energy manufacturing. According to industry estimates, the wind industry supports nearly 20,000 direct jobs along with over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in its supply chain.
- These credits have played an important role in fueling that job creation, and as a result have strong bipartisan support from Governors, Members of Congress, as well as industry.
- Since 2008, the United States has nearly doubled generation from renewable energy sources. We need to keep this momentum going. But if Congress fails to act on these credits, industry experts project that tens of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs. That’s unacceptable and unnecessary.
- At this make-or-break moment for the middle class Congress needs to take action on these common sense initiatives. We need to create an economy built to last that creates secure American jobs and makes things the rest of the world buys - not one built on outsourcing, loopholes, or risky financial deals.