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Obama boosts energy focus with White House meeting, upcoming lab visit
President Obama will put energy on the political front-burner next week with a Friday, March 15, visit to the Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago.
The White House also disclosed Friday that Obama and senior aides met Thursday evening at the White House with more than a dozen energy experts and industry officials.
Obama has pledged to focus aggressively on climate change and green energy in his second term, and wield his executive powers to act on global warming in the face of congressional gridlock.
“During the meeting, the President reiterated his commitment to a cleaner and more secure energy future. The discussion covered a variety of topics including the important role of natural gas in our domestic energy portfolio, new opportunities for renewables like wind, solar and advanced biofuels, the importance of clean energy research and development, as well as the promise and potential of increased energy efficiency in our homes and businesses,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Friday.
The White House efforts to publicize Thursday’s meeting and next week’s travels arrive as Republicans are strongly pressing Obama to approve the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
Participants Thursday included Anadarko Petroleum Chairman Jim Hackett, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Jackson, Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson and NextEra Energy Inc. Executive Chairman Lew Hay, whose company has invested heavily in renewable energy. He’s also chairman of a major power industry trade group.
White House aides at the meeting included Heather Zichal, the top adviser to Obama on energy, John Holdren, who is the president’s top science adviser, and Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz.
Earnest, in Friday’s press briefing, touted increases in national oil and natural gas production in recent years, as well as increases in green power generation, and drops in U.S. carbon emissions and lower imports of foreign oil.
“The President made clear that his administration will build on this historic progress, using tools including existing authorities across the federal government and leveraging public-private partnerships to achieve key energy and climate objectives in his second term,” Earnest said.
