Sydney Morning Herald
Monday 5/7/2010 Page: 8
WASHINGTON:The US government is handing out nearly $US2 billion ($2.5 billion) for new solar plants that the President, Barack Obama, says will create thousands of jobs and increase the use of renewable energy. Mr Obama said the money was part of his plan to bring new industries to the US. "We're going to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America," he said.
Two companies will receive the money from the President's $US862 billion economic stimulus. They are Abengoa Solar, which will build one of the world's largest solar plants in Arizona, creating 1600 construction jobs; and Abengoa Solar Manufacturing, which is building plants in Colorado and Indiana. The Obama administration said the projects would create more than 2000 construction jobs and 1500 permanent jobs. But the truth is, steps like these won't replace all the jobs we've lost overnight," Mr Obama said in his weekly radio and online address on Saturday. "I know folks are struggling."
The President warned that it would "take months, even years, to dig our way out" of the economic recession. Mr Obama's announcement came a day after the Labour Department reported that employers slashed payrolls last month for the first time in six months, driven by the expected end of 225,000 temporary census jobs. Meanwhile, private sector hiring rose by 83,000 workers. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.5%.
Mr Obama said that while it might take years to bring regain all the jobs lost during recession, the economy was improving. He placed some of the blame for the slow pace of recovery on Republicans, saying they "are playing the same old Washington games and using their power to hold this relief hostage." A Republican senator, Saxby Chambliss, said in his weekly address that the country's $US13 trillion debt was a national security issue that would leave the US vulnerable and force future generations to "pay higher taxes to foot the bill for Democrats' out-of-control spending."
0 comments:
Post a Comment