Obama Talks Jobs, Clean Energy in Missouri
(Macon, MO) — President Barack Obama was in the Midwest Wednesday discussing the economy and how clean energy will help bring jobs as well as more security to the United States.
At the POET Bio-Refining plant in Macon Missouri, the President admits that while the economy is beginning to recover, Middle America is having a more difficult time however he believes smaller towns and farmers will make a big impact through biofuels.
“After two hard years, our economy is growing again and our markets are climbing again and our businesses are beginning to create jobs again,” he says. “But when you come out to Macon and surrounding areas whether its in Iowa or Illinois or Missouri or Kansas or other parts of the heartland, you understand that the recovery hasn’t reached everybody yet. Times are tough out here.”
Money built into the Recovery act is aimed at building more clean energy facilities like the one the President toured. The Macon plant produces Ethanol.
“That investment was part of the Recovery Act. It included $800 million in funding for ethanol fueling infrastructure, bio-refinery construction, advanced biofuels research to help us reach the goal that I’ve set which is to more than triple America’s biofuels production in the next 12 years. That is a goal that we can achieve and it’s being worked on right here at Poet and we’re very proud of that.”
The President says the more homegrown energy we have, the less we have to depend on foreign oil, which not only helps the US be more self-sustaining but helps keeps us both safer and greener.
“For decades we’ve talked about doing this,” says Obama. “For decades we’ve talked about how that dependence on oil from other countries threatens our economy but usually our will to act kind of rises or falls depending on the price of gas at the pump.”
The country has been discussing using more homegrown fuels since President Nixon was in office, but the country forgets the issue when fuel prices are low.
President Obama believes investments made in clean energy now will help the country now and in years to come.
