BP oil spill a "wake-up call" for solar industry

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SEIA president Rhone Resch's comments came on the back of U.S. President Barrack Obama's first speech at the Oval Office, held in the wake of the oil spill.

During his speech, President Obama stressed the need for urgent action to move forward with innovative energy policies that will ensure the end of America’s reliance on fossil fuels. He said that his administration has “taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry” and emphasized the need to “to match these actions by a comprehensive plan that transitions the United States to a 21st-century clean-energy economy”.

Mr Resch responded by saying: “This tragic environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a wake-up call for our nation to develop clean, safe renewable energy sources like solar now.?

“President Obama is absolutely right to call for national energy reform and for us to unite behind comprehensive energy legislation that takes our nation in a new direction – away from unsafe and unstable fossil fuels and toward a new clean energy economy with safe, reliable sources like solar. We have an opportunity to produce solar energy to power our buildings and charge our vehicles while putting America back to work here at home. ? ?

“The solar industry is poised to rebuild our nation’s manufacturing base, create hundreds of thousands of jobs in all 50 states, spur economic growth, and strengthen our national security and energy independence. But to do this, we need comprehensive energy legislation that effectively rewards and stimulates production of clean energy. It is one of the best policy investments the public can make.?

“No doubt we will recover from this terrible accident; but if we don't set ourselves down a new energy path, we will be ignoring our responsibility to the residents of the Gulf Coast and to the nation as a whole.”

The BP oil spill has been cited as the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced.

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