by Rebecca Walker — January 23, 2009 In President Barack Obama’s inaugural address, he called for the expanded use of renewable energy to meet the twin challenges of energy security and climate change.
Noting that “each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet,” Obama looked to the near future, saying that as a nation, the United States will “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”
Those were the first references ever to our nation’s energy use, to renewable resources, and to climate change in an inauguration speech of a US president. President Obama later circled back to the subject of climate change, proclaiming that “with old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to … roll back the specter of a warming planet.”
As the president was being sworn in, the newly revised White House Web site went live, and it prominently features Obama’s agenda for energy and the environment. The president’s “New Energy for America” plan calls for a federal investment of $150 billion over the next decade to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
