I'm not into getting involved with endless minutia about what Krugman or Reich or anyone else says or thinks, I simply posted 2 areas where there is a lot of potential for positive development within the US. We most certainly are creating new jobs, small businesses are starting and companies are starting what is very possible to grow into a much larger trend of bringing overseas jobs back to the US. As far as the jobs go, we are maintaining a decent average given the circumstances (many formerly solid foreign economies are at 20% unemployment) and as far as the US that is in light of continued massive lay-offs of public workers at the state level.
You asked for one thing Obama was doing to help those initiatives along, he has organized and commissioned the research, gotten private industry and government heads together and put solid proposals together to move us in those directions. The 2013 budget that he released includes concrete allocations for increasing natural gas development and use and provides tax incentives for manufacturers who create jobs in the US, doubles the deduction for advanced manufacturing and ends tax deductions for shipping jobs overseas.
Most of his initiatives have been killed or languish in Congress. However here are some viable examples of the impact he has had with just a few large members of the Clean Cities’ National Clean Fleets Partnership he helped to create and successfully promoted:
"Five thousand — and counting. That’s the newly-announced tally of alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs) placed on U.S. roads by AT&T since the company embarked on a 10- year commitment of up to $565 million to deploy approximately 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles through 2018, including one of the largest U.S. corporate commitments to compressed natural gas"
"In 2010, AT&T and other large U.S. fleet operators joined in the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities’ National Clean Fleets Partnership as part of a national challenge launched by President Obama to cut America’s petroleum imports by one-third by 2025."
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...rticleid=33757
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay is aiming to become the most fuel-efficient fleet in the country. In 2011, the company deployed 176 all-electric medium-duty delivery trucks, eliminating the need for 500,000 gallons of fuel per year and cutting emissions by 75% compared to diesel trucks. In addition,
Frito-Lay's fleet includes more than 600 hybrid electric sales cars and rapidly expanding use of propane and natural gas. Additional significant fuel savings are being realized through driver training and use of GPS.
The company joined the partnership in April 2011.
Ryder
Ryder opened its first natural gas vehicle maintenance facility in 2011, allowing the company
to deploy hundreds of heavy-duty vehicles that run on compressed or liquefied natural gas. The project is expected to displace more than 1.5 million gallons of diesel fuel per year. Ryder also leases electric and hybrid vehicles to its fleet customers.
The company joined the National Clean Fleets Partnership in June 2011.
Verizon
Verizon aims to have 15% of its fleet running on alternative fuels by 2015. In 2010, the company operated 370 of its vehicles to run on biofuels. It also purchased compressed natural gas vans and hybrid pick-ups and sedans. By the end 2011, within a fleet of more than 30,000 domestic telecom vehicles,
Verizon operated more than 2,500 alternative energy vehicles. Verizon joined the National Clean Fleets Partnership in April 2011.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/cleancit...rtnership.html
Bookmarks