Obama says India, China marching ahead in clean energy field

Describing the clean energy sector as key to creating jobs and building a strong economy, US President Barack Obama today said that countries like India, China and Germany are marching ahead in the field which has a huge potential for growth in the coming years.

Obama, whose administration has launched various clean energy incentives, said that a company called BrightSource plans to break ground this month on a new, revolutionary type of solar power plant.

This will put about 1,000 people to work for building the facility and once completed, it will power up to 140,000 homes, making it the largest such plant in the world, he said.
    
But, the opposition Republicans recently pledged to scrap all incentives for such projects, even those currently in progress.
    
"It's (the solar power plant) going to put about a thousand people to work building a state-of-the-art facility. And when it's complete, it will turn sunlight into the energy that will power up to 140,000 homes, the largest such plant in the world. Not in China. Not in India. But in California," Obama said in his weekly radio address to the nation.
    
"Our future as a nation depends on making sure that the jobs and industries of the 21st century take root here in America. And there is perhaps no industry with more potential to create jobs now, and growth in the coming years, than clean energy," he said.
    
"For decades, we've talked about the importance of ending our dependence on foreign oil and pursuing new kinds of energy, like wind and solar power. But for just as long, progress had been prevented at every turn by the special interests and their allies in Washington," he said.
    
"So, year after year, our dependence on foreign oil grew. Families have been held hostage to spikes in gas prices. Good manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. And we've seen companies produce new energy technologies and high-skilled jobs not in America, but in countries like China, India and Germany," Obama said.

Referring to the BrightSource project, Obama said: "With projects like this one, and others across this country, we are staking our claim to continued leadership in the new global economy. And we're putting Americans to work producing clean, home-grown American energy that will help lower our reliance on foreign oil and protect our planet for future generations."
    
Now there are some in Washington who want to shut them down, he said.
    
"In fact, in the pledge they recently released, the Republican leadership is promising to scrap all the incentives for clean energy projects, including those currently underway, even with all the jobs and potential that they hold," Obama said.
    
"This doesn't make sense for our economy. It doesn't make sense for Americans who are looking for jobs. And it doesn't make sense for our future. To go backwards and scrap these plans means handing the competitive edge to China and other nations. It means that we'll grow even more dependent on foreign oil.
    
"And, at a time of economic hardship, it means forgoing jobs we desperately need. In fact, shutting down just this one project would cost about a thousand jobs," Obama said.