U.S. President Barack Obama fueled optimism in the diesel industry with a speech on August 8 before a joint meeting of Congress and a national TV audience, during which he emphasized re-establishing the American economy as “the engine and the envy of the world.”
Today, 94 percent of all global trade is powered by diesel engines on trucks, ships, and railroads, according to the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF), a Maryland-based trade organization whose members stand to benefit from Obama’s $447 million American Jobs Act.
With six million long-term unemployed Americans—and 86 percent of the U.S. public “frustrated” or “angry” with the federal government, according to a recent poll—the Obama took a feisty tone in addressing a Congress that has virtually been deadlocked for the past six months. “You should pass this now,” he exhorted repeatedly during the half-hour address.
Echoing his January 2011 State of the Union Address, Obama said, “We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.” Among the strategies the President advocated to create jobs and jump-start the economy were:
- Tax cuts to help America’s small businesses hire and grow;
- Putting workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing America;
- Pathways back to work for Americans looking for jobs, including training and incentives to hire the long-term unemployed; and
- Tax relief for American workers and their families.
Although he made no direct reference to the “five million green jobs over 10 years” he had promised the U.S. electorate during his campaign, Obama directly targeted the need to provide public and private sector support to technology companies.
“If we provide the right incentives, the right support —and if we make sure our trading partners play by the rules —we can be the ones to build everything from fuel-efficient cars to advanced biofuels to semiconductors that we sell all around the world. That’s how America can be number one again. And that’s how America will be number one again.”
What’s more, construction projects alone, Obama said, could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. “Pass this jobs bill,” pronounced the President, “and we can put people to work rebuilding America. Everyone here knows we have badly decaying roads and bridges all over the country. Our highways are clogged with traffic. Our skies are the most congested in the world.”
And that’s also good news for the diesel industry: Breaking ground to build and renovate U.S. schools, roads, bridges, airports, and other transportation infrastructure will require not only more feet on the ground, but lots of the efficient power provided by American-made clean diesel engines and equipment, according to Allen Schaeffer, the executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum.
“America’s diesel manufacturers are ready and able to meet the challenge to rebuild our nation,” Schaeffer said, noting that more than two-thirds of all construction, mining, and farm equipment today is diesel-powered.
Specifically, the public works component of the legislation would include:
- Modernizing at least 35,000 public schools nationwide;
- Immediate investments in the nation’s infrastructure ;
- A new “Project Rebuild” that will rehabilitate homes, businesses and communities;
- Expanding access to high-speed wireless as part of a plan for freeing up the nation’s spectrum.
Speaking for the nation’s largest labor union, National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel commented, “Educators are smart enough to learn lessons from history—and history has shown time and again that federal investments in infrastructure and other middle class job-creating initiatives is the fastest way to not only put Americans back to work, but to improve the country overall.”
Although the Republican Party delivered no formal response to the speech of their Democratic President, several party leaders weighed in on the plan. The President’s nemesis during recent budget ceiling talks, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio), took a conciliatory tone directly after the address: “The proposals the President outlined tonight merit consideration .We hope he gives serious consideration to our ideas as well. It’s my hope that we can work together to end the uncertainty facing families and small businesses, and create a better environment for long-term economic growth and private-sector job creation.”
“All of the construction and infrastructure projects outlined…by President Obama could begin first thing tomorrow morning thanks to the power, reliability and efficiency of America’s clean diesel engines and equipment,” said Schaeffer, enthusiastically adding, “From earthmoving to e-commerce, clean diesel power enables the efficient movement of goods and people and the building of our homes, schools and infrastructure.”
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
