President Obama rallied clean energy supporters in Las Vegas Monday night in support of his climate change agenda, while sending a message to GOP opponents that they will ultimately lose out.
The “opposition will fight even harder … as we get closer” to a clean energy future, the president said. But those that support the future should “firmly say, sorry, we’re moving forward.”
The American people “always go to the side of [the] future,” and the “naysayers” always underestimate the American people, he said.
The president was there to promote newly finalized regulations to limit emissions from power plants, called the Clean Power Plan. The plan places states on the hook to limit their emissions by 32 percent by 2030. The GOP and many coal states oppose the plan. A group of 15 states plan to sue over the regulations once it is published in the Federal Register, which officially opens any regulation up to court challenge.
Obama said the utility industry is fundamentally shifting away from large fossil coal plants, and toward more rooftop solar power and wind energy. He said it’s not a far-off vision supported by a few, but it’s a change that will benefit everyone, regardless of one’s political leanings. “Solar isn’t just for the green crowd anymore,” he said.
People are making the shift to cleaner energy solutions because of the cost savings, “not because of tree huggers” but “because they are cost cutters.”
Big businesses like Wal-Mart and Google are investing in renewables to save money. “They’re not doing this out of altruism, they are doing it for cost savings.”
He explained that solar panels on a businesses gives them greater control over the cost of electricity. Renewable energy also allows for very low long-term contracting, where companies can lock in a rate with a wind farm without worrying about the price going up for decades, according to proponents.
President Obama also played up the job creation aspects of clean energy. He said “solar now employs twice as many as mining coal.”
The president said federal investments helped that innovation happen, and “now is not the time to insist on cuts … like many Republicans want to make” to wind and solar programs. The GOP had approved spending bills earlier this year that slashed the administration’s proposed spending increases for renewable energy.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada hosted the event that the president addressed, called the National Clean Energy Summit. This is the eighth summit Sen. Reid has hosted. Reid thanked the president for helping his state make huge strides in renewable energy. He said the city of Las Vegas is surrounded by solar power arrays, and rooftop solar panels dot the hotels and casinos.
“The reason we were able to do that is the incentives we got in the stimulus bill,” Reid said.
Reid said he would defend the Clean Power Plan when the Senate returns in September and he expects a push against the landmark regulation.
