President Obama lays out American priorities

President Obama spoke on Capitol Hill on Tuesday about the urgency of the situation that America is in; spiraling health care costs, a less than optimal educational system, dependence upon unsustainable energy sources, not to mention the failing economy, rising unemployment, a collapsing housing market, and rampant unethical behavior on Wall Street were all on his mind and in his speech.  In stark contrast to a majority of President Bush’s speeches about foreign threats and fear, President Obama talked about domestic issues and hope.

President Obama stated clearly and powerfully to a reception of applause that “we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before”.  Analysts also have high expectations for the president.  In order to successfully manage the complex set of issues before the American people, he will have to “use the urgency of the moment and his considerable political capital to reform that (political) system and transform the way politics is done”.

On the president’s agenda is a list of issues spanning a multitude of problems.  While many of these issues are related, the list can seem insurmountable at times, and so a certain sense of optimism is necessary in order to swallow ‘the pill’ that many say will lead America toward economic recovery.

The recession appears to be widening in 1Q’09 with markets dropping to their lowest point in over a decade (falling lower than the Nov.’08 lows), but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recently signed into law by President Obama is aimed at picking the markets up when they hit their bottoms sometime later in the year.  Progress on the money spent through the Recovery Act can be tracked through Recovery.gov, which aims to hold the current administration accountable and make the process of spending American taxpayers money transparent.

If President Obama’s speech on Tuesday night was any indication of the direction America is heading with respect to energy, it will become even more apparent over the course of the next few months that the cleantech sector is going to be greatly expanded in the next few years.  The goal of reaching 25% renewable energy by 2025 is an ambitious target that is going to need the help of a consortium of interested parties that spans the gamut of American capitalism.  If his plan is going to work, he will need the help of financial institutions to give low-interest guaranteed loans to renewable energy projects; he will need the help of Congressional leaders to pass sweeping reform legislation aimed at changing America’s energy policy; he will need the help of business executives to institute building retrofits and sustainability analyses into their strategies for the near-term; he will need the help of the American public to be willing to change some of their deepest held beliefs about the power of government; he will need the help of the international community to apply pressure upon America to continue to provide leadership on a multitude of energy and climate related issues; and, most importantly, he will need the help of the oil, coal, and natural gas industries to begin shifting their energy portfolios toward renewable energy.  Hopefully, Americans are feeling helpful!

The list of issues and the need for help can leave even the most educated of persons asking, ‘where do we begin’.  For starters, the Recovery Act provided a broad framework from which to work; the 2010 budget will nail down some of the particulars and will provide more structure to America’s path forward.  The Energy/Climate bill will set American policy for the foreseeable future.

The 2010 budget will focus on energy, education, and health care; the details will undoubtedly follow the outline laid out in Tuesday night’s speech and will seek to build off of the Recovery Act.  With a majority in both Houses of Congress, President Obama’s commitment to work with Republicans is commendable.  The new era of politics that he speaks about ushering in runs the risk of stalemating his agenda, though, but he has stated that “he would rather engage critics than simply defeat them”.

Republicans have already stated their objections to the amount of spending that President Obama proposes; they say that universal health care and renewable energy are two programs that America does not have the money right now to pay for.  There is no doubt that Republicans are upset that...

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Read the rest of my article at:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2903-Energy-Examiner
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