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WASHINGTON: US President-elect Barack Obama has promised to make clean energy a top priority in his new administration.
Over the next ten years, he wants the US government to spend US$150 billion on promoting green technologies. But a substantial portion of the funds will go into propping up America's failing car industry.
His ambitious energy plan, which would enable America to spend big on wind turbines, solar panels and fuel efficient cars, was rolled out on his campaign trail.
Obama said: "I will invest US$15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy. We can create 5 million new green jobs in the next decade."
The Obama team wants to try to prevent the collapse of America's car giants in Detroit by subsidising the development of energy efficient cars.
"We'll build the fuel efficient cars of the future. We won't build them in Japan and South Korea, we'll build them here in the United States of America," said the president-elect.
But analysts said it would be a tough transformation because American car companies are not yet competitive in the production of energy efficient batteries.
Ethan Zindler from New Energy Finance said: "Some of the more effective batteries are still a couple of years off in terms of development, so while Detroit may want them quickly and certainly the US government wants Detroit to turn the corner, technology may end up being a bottleneck in this situation."
There are also doubts about whether an Obama White House would sign the current Kyoto pledges, which President George W. Bush has refused to sign.
Yvo de Boer, UN Head of Climate Change Secretariat, said: "Senator Obama has a very strong and encouraging position on climate change, so he will bring new energy to the international negotiation. Having said that, I do not expect the United States to return to the Kyoto protocol."
The Obama team has indicated that it will cooperate internationally and formulate new emissions targets domestically, but that goal has not been the main emphasis of Obama's plans so far.
"First and foremost, energy independence and economic development are at the top of the list in terms of thinking about these issues, with climate change coming in just behind those," said Zindler.
With a Democrat-dominated Congress, Obama will stand a better chance of passing environmental legislation. But with the economy in crisis and budget deficits spiralling, any spending decisions will face tough scrutiny.
- CNA/so
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