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President Obama shines light on local solar manufacturers during State of the Union speech

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Rochester

President Obama recently spotlighted two regular, everyday Americans as an example of American sacrifice and innovation. He found them in Metro Detroit, indirectly pointing to the region as hub for renewable energy and resilience.

Excerpt:

Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit them hard.

Today, with the help of a government loan, that empty space is being used to manufacture solar shingles that are being sold all across the country. In Robert's words, "We reinvented ourselves."

That's what Americans have done for over two hundred years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we've begun to reinvent our energy policy. We're not just handing out money. We're issuing a challenge. We're telling America's scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we'll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.

Read the rest of President Obama's State of the Union speech here.

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In the News

President Obama shines light on local solar manufacturers during State of the Union speech

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