A key passage from President Obama’s address
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Of course, this echoes the plan he outlined Jan. 8:
- double the production of alternative energy in the next three years;
- modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes;
- put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines;
- construct fuel-efficient cars and buildings;
- develop the new energy technologies;
- improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost;
- computerize all of America’s medical records in five years;
- equip tens of thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries;
- eliminating the backlog of well-planned, worthy and needed infrastructure projects;
- build a smart electric grid;
- expand broadband lines across America; and
- invest in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.
There is more information on the new administration’s energy and environment goals here.