Remarks of
President-Elect Barack Obama
Announcement of
Energy and Environment Team
December 15, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
[As Prepared for Delivery]
Good afternoon. Over the past few weeks, Vice President-Elect
Biden and I have announced key members of our economic and national
security teams. In the 21st century, we know that the future
of our economy and national security is inextricably linked to one
challenge: energy. So today, we’re pleased to introduce the team that
will lead our efforts on energy and the environment.
In the next few years, the choices that we make will help
determine the kind of country – and world – that we will leave to our
children and grandchildren. All of us know the problems rooted in our
addiction to foreign oil – it constrains our economy, shifts wealth to
hostile regimes, and leaves us dependent on unstable regions. These
urgent dangers are eclipsed only by the long-term threat of climate
change, which – unless we act – will lead to drought and famine abroad,
devastating weather patterns and terrible storms on our shores, and the
disappearance of our coastline at home.
For over three decades, we’ve listened to a growing chorus of
warnings about our energy dependence. We’ve heard President after
President promise to chart a new course. We’ve heard Congress talk
about energy independence, only to pull up short in the face of
opposition from special interests. We’ve seen Washington launch policy
after policy. Yet our dependence on foreign oil has only grown, even as
the world’s resources are disappearing.
This time must be different. This time we cannot fail, nor be
lulled into complacency simply because the price at the pump has – for
now – gone down from $4 a gallon. To control our own destiny, America
must develop new forms of energy and new ways of using it. This is not
a challenge for government alone – it is a challenge for all of us. The
pursuit of a new energy economy requires a sustained, all-hands-on-deck
effort because the foundation of our energy independence is right here,
in America – in the power of wind and solar; in new crops and new
technologies; in the innovation of our scientists and entrepreneurs,
and the dedication and skill of our workforce. Those are the resources
we must harness to move beyond our oil addiction and create a new,
hybrid economy.
As we face this challenge, we can seize boundless opportunities
for our people. We can create millions of jobs, starting with a 21st
Century Economic Recovery Plan that puts Americans to work building
wind farms, solar panels, and fuel-efficient cars. We can spark the
dynamism of our economy through long term investments in renewable
energy that will give life to new businesses and industries, with good
jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced. We will make public
buildings more efficient, modernize our electric grid, reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, and protect and preserve our natural
resources.
We must also recognize that the solution to global climate change
must be global. I spoke a few days ago with Senator John Kerry, who
updated me on the recent climate negotiations in Poland. Just as we
work to reduce our own emissions, we must forge international solutions
to ensure that every nation is doing its part. As we do so, America
will lead not just at the negotiating table – we will lead, as we
always have, through innovation and discovery; through hard work and
the pursuit of a common purpose.
The team that I have assembled here today is uniquely suited to
meet the great challenges of this defining moment. They are leading
experts and accomplished managers, and they are ready to reform
government and help transform our economy so that our people are more
prosperous, our nation is more secure, and our planet is protected.
Dr. Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who has been
working at the cutting edge of our nation’s effort to develop new and
cleaner forms of energy. He blazed new trails as a scientist, teacher,
and administrator, and has recently led the Berkeley National
Laboratory in pursuit of new alternative and renewable energies. Steven
is uniquely-suited to be our next Secretary of Energy as we make this
pursuit a guiding purpose of the Department of Energy, as well as a
national mission. The scientists at our national labs will have a
distinguished peer at the helm. His appointment should send a signal to
all that my Administration will value science, we will make decisions
based on the facts, and we understand that the facts demand bold
action.
For my Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, I
have chosen Lisa Jackson. Lisa has spent a lifetime in public service
at the local, state and federal level. As Commissioner of New Jersey’s
Department of Environmental Protection, she has helped make her state a
leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing new sources
of energy, and she has the talent and experience to continue this
effort at the EPA. Lisa also shares my commitment to restoring the
EPA’s robust role in protecting our air, water and abundant natural
resources so that our environment is cleaner and our communities are
safer.
Nancy Sutley will be an
integral part of this team as the Chair of my
Council on Environmental Quality in the White House. In recent years,
we have seen states and cities take the initiative in forging
innovative solutions on energy. Nancy has been at the cutting edge of
this effort – working as a Regional Administrator for the EPA, at the
state level in Sacramento, and recently as the Deputy Mayor for Energy
and the Environment in Los Angeles. Now, she will bring this unique
experience to Washington, and be a key player in helping to make our
government more efficient, and coordinating our efforts to protect our
environment at home and around the globe.
Finally, the scope of the
effort before us will demand coordination across the government, and my
personal engagement as President. That is why I’m naming Carol Browner
to a new post in the White House to coordinate energy and climate
policy. Carol understands that our efforts to create jobs, achieve
energy security and combat climate change demand integration among
different agencies; cooperation between federal, state and local
governments; and partnership with the private sector. She brings the
unmatched experience of being a successful and longest-serving
Administrator of the EPA. She will be indispensable in implementing an
ambitious and complex energy policy.
Later this week, I will be
announcing my designee for Secretary of the Interior, which will fill
out my energy and environmental team. The Interior Department will play
a critical role in meeting the challenges that I have discussed today.
Looking ahead, I am confident that we will be ready to begin the
journey towards a new energy frontier on January 20th. This
will be a leading priority of my presidency, and a defining test of our
time. We cannot afford complacency, nor accept any more broken
promises. We won’t create a new energy economy and protect our
environment overnight, but we can begin that work right now if we think
anew, and act anew. Now, we must have the will to act, and to act
boldly.
Thank you, and I’d now like to invite my team to say a few words,
starting with Dr. Chu.
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