In Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his “Economic Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class” — a new $60 billion economic stimulus package, to be added to an already-proposed $115 billion stimulus proposal. As he introduced his new plan, he made several references to energy issues.
“I won’t pretend this will be easy or come without cost. We’ll have to set priorities as never before, and stick to them,” Obama told the crowd in Toledo. “That means pursuing investments in areas such as energy, education, and health care that bear directly on our economic future, while deferring other things we can afford to do without.”
“We’ll create 5 million new, high-wage jobs by investing in the renewable sources of energy that will eliminate the oil we currently import from the Middle East in 10 years, and we’ll create 2 million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools, and bridges,” he said.
He revisited the subject again later in the speech: “It is time to protect the jobs we have and to create the jobs of tomorrow by unlocking the drive, and ingenuity, and innovation of the American people. And we should fast-track the loan guarantees we passed for our auto industry and provide more as needed so that they can build the energy-efficient cars America needs to end our dependence on foreign oil.”
