Saturday, August 13, 2011

President Obama in Holland, Michigan

Here is my pick for sustainability story of the week in Michigan.




Following a tour of an advanced manufacturing facility, the President says his goal is to see more products that are Made in America sold around the world. August 11, 2010.
This isn't just an "advanced manufacturing facility," specifically, it's a factory where Johnson Controls builds Lithium-Ion batteries that will power an Azure Balance™ Hybrid Electric commercial vehicle. The plant was launched and is now shipping hybrid batteries 10 months after receiving a $299 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This shows the intersection among environment, in the form of a more sustainable technology than oil-powered internal combustion engines, economy, in the form of job creation, and society, in the form of politics. It's a perfect example of a general sustainability story.

This is not the first time President Obama has handed me a general sustainability story. As I've mentioned before, "President Obama...really likes the idea of sustainable development packaged as making America competitive." I've taken advantage of this trait of his at least twice before. So, when he came to Michigan to promote sustainable development as a way of making America competitive, of course I was going to cover it. It was only a matter of time.

That he pointed out that the deal he got in the Satan Sandwich, along with the people who insisted on it, is standing in the way of sustainable development, is a pure bonus.

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