Obama talking energy at Argonne National Lab today
BY LYNN SWEET Twitter: @lynnsweet March 14, 2013 7:54PM
President Barack Obama speaks at Hyde Park Academy in Chicago, Friday, February 15, 2013. In his speech, the President gun violence in Chicago and across America. | Jessica Koscielniak ~ Sun-Times
Updated: April 16, 2013 4:25PM
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama visits Argonne National Laboratory in suburban Lemont on Friday to deliver a speech on weaning the nation from oil and gas, following up on an energy plan unveiled in his State of the Union address.
He will speak at 1:30 p.m. Chicago time, after a tour of the lab.
In his State of the Union speech, Obama said “I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good.
“If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we. Let’s take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long,” Obama said in the February address.
The coalition Obama referred to which developed the trust concept is named “SAFE” — Securing America’s Future Energy — co-chaired by FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith and former Marine Corps Commandant General P.X. Kelley.
SAFE CEO and president Robbie Diamond said he will be at Argonne on Friday for the speech, where he expects to hear how Obama will implement an energy trust.
“There is no greater economic and national security threat than our dependence on oil,” Diamond said. The nation needs to develop “alternatives to oil to power our cars and trucks.”
Obama was last in Chicago on Feb. 15 for a speech at the Hyde Park Academy.
