Obama's Earth Day Speech

On April 22, 2009, President Obama addressed a crowd at a former Maytag plant in Ohio with an Earth Day Speech focused on renewable energy options for the country.  While the building was formerly used to manufacture household appliances, it has since been converted to a wind-energy plant, creating turbines and other components.

The hope is that the town, 30 miles east of Des Moines, can be jump-started by green jobs and the renewable energy economy.  And, the Administration expects that wind energy investment will help buoy other communities, as well.

“The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy — it’s a choice between prosperity and decline,” Obama said in his first post-election trip to Iowa, the state that launched him toward the White House. “The nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy.”

Obama’s speech was largely focused on wind power, given that he was addressing the crowd from a wind turbine manufacturing plant.

Wind Turbine Components manufactured in Ohio

In 2007, Maytag pulled out from the town, as did a number of jobs.  Now, about 90 people are employed at Trinity Structural Towers, with the number to rise to about 140.  Family wages are offered at triple the minimum wage.

Obama has promised an overall, gradual transition of the country to renewable energy, instead of building more coal plants and drilling for domestic oil.  The impetus for this change is the American Clean Energy and Security Act, currently under consideration by Congress.  Wind energy, specifically, holds much promise.  In Iowa, the state is second only to Texas with respect to harnessing the renewable resource.

The good news from the Earth Day speech is Obama’s Administration is working on the nation’s first program to authorize offshore wind turbines and ocean currents electricity projects.  The expectation is that wind can generate 20% of  U.S. electricity by 2030, providing up to a quarter million green jobs.  Observes President Obama:

“As with so many clean energy investments, it’s win-win: good for environment and great for our economy.”

Obama’s energy plan, through the proposed Act, is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.  By 2050, the reductions will be to over 80%.

For more information on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, click here.

To see Obama’s Earth Day Speech in its entirety, click here.

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