San Francisco (Obama.net)- For decades, Michigan was a state with a booming economy. All of that could be attributed to cars. Michigan was home to the Motor City, Detroit. But as more foreign cars entered the market in the United States of America, the economy in Detroit slowly began to dwindle. Over time, the once prosperous city and state were no longer so. Detroit seemed to turn from the Motor City, aka Motown, into the city of unemployment in a blink of an eye.
For years now, the city of Detroit has been one of violence and poverty with shut down factories all over town just gathering dust and rust. But the President of the United States of America is vowing to change that and rebuild Detroit, as well as all of Michigan.
During a speech in Holland, Michigan on Thursday, Obama claimed that it would be the construction of electric cars that will rebuild Michigan. As Obama spoke near Lake Michigan, he made it clear that the planned plant to build batteries will be exactly what Michigan needs to boom their economy once again. The plant, which is scheduled to be completely constructed in 2012, is projected to cost around 303 million dollars and will provide the car industry with lithium ion batteries. Those batteries will be used for revolutionary cars such as the Volt by Chevrolet and Ford’s electric car, the Focus.
The Department of Energy also issued a report explaining how Obama’s Stimulus Package has helped bring about the speedy industry of battery and electric car construction.
With its leading the way in making these batteries, Michigan could quickly go from being “the Rust Belt to the Green Belt” said Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm symbolizing Michigan’s leading in the process of making cars more energy efficient.
Obama made it clear that his spending of five billion dollars for electric cars is already beginning to pay off. And that without the stimulus package, the situation in Michigan, as well as other states in America, would be in far worse conditions.
As Obama expressed, “Our goal has never been to create a government program, but to unleash private sector growth and we are seeing results.”
By the year 2020, Michigan is expected to gain approximately 62,000 jobs for their citizens via the new plants to make vehicles more energy efficient alone.
Within one year of operation, the new plant in Michigan, called Compact Power Inc. Battery Plant, is expected o provide the proper batteries for nearly a quarter of a million cars as well as bring nearly half of a thousand new jobs to Michigan. In addition to other construction jobs and a second plant to be built nearby, over one thousand jobs are expected to be created halfway through 2013.
Holland, which has an unemployment rate of nearly fifteen percent, is looking to become the worldwide leader in electric vehicle and battery technology. With the planned plants, Obama said that the percentage of vehicle batteries made by the United States of America could increase by 38 percent to forty percent.
Obama’s Recovery Act set out a total of 2.4 billion dollars to make thirty battery plants and manufacturing plant. Those plants are expected to create half of a billion electric cars per year by 2015.
In addition to all of the plants, due to the increased production of batteries and supplies for electric and hybrid cars, the prices of those cars would fall drastically and become much more affordable for Americans.
With the intelligent investment by President Barack Obama, the state of Michigan, especially the city of Holland, Michigan, could be about to explode financially and once again bring Michigan back to prosperity.
A state known as the home of Ford Motors, the Detroit Red Wings, and the original home of Motown music, thanks to President Barack Obama is on the cusp of becoming known for electric technology.
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