By Adam Shapiro

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 10/23/09 – With the United States having already won the space race 40 years ago, President Barack Obama has the nation focused on emerging victorious in a new global competition: the clean-energy race. “The nation that wins this competition is going to be the nation that leads the world and I want America to be that nation, it’s that simple,” exclaimed Obama, adding that the innovative spirit the country exudes will see it through this difficult period. “Even in the darkest of times that this nation has seen, it has always sought a brighter horizon,” the President said. “We have always been about innovation. We have always been about discovery. That is part of our DNA.”

Speaking in front of an audience of about 750 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Friday, the President challenged Congress to pass an energy bill intended to curb climate change. He stressed the importance of developing clean-energy alternatives to oil and explained that the nation’s economic future is directly related to the potential green technologies harness.

“Such legislation can transform our energy system into one that is far more efficient, clean, and independent – making the best use of resources we have in abundance, through clean coal technology, safe nuclear power, sustainably grown biofuels and energy we harness from wind, waves and sun,” Obama said.

During his presidential campaign, Obama promised to cap U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions and allocated $80 billion in energy-related spending in the $787 billion stimulus bill he signed this past February, saying it “makes the largest investment in clean energy in history, not only to help end this recession, but to lay a new foundation for lasting prosperity.” However, since that time, opposition from industries dependent on fossil fuels has increased, while public interest has decreased. As a result, the debate over the legislation could be delayed well into 2010.

Obama recognizes the difficulties associated with the passage of a climate bill and made an acknowledgement to this during his speech. “The closer we get, the harder the opposition will fight and the more we’ll hear from those whose interest or ideology runs counter to action,” he said. “There are those who will suggest that moving toward clean energy will destroy our economy when it’s the system we currently have that endangers our prosperity and prevents us from creating millions of new jobs. There are those who will make cynical claims that contradict the overwhelming scientific evidence, claims whose only purpose is to defeat or delay the change we know is necessary.”

Still, the President is optimistic that a consensus is growing. “We are seeing a convergence,” Obama said. “The naysayers, the folks who would pretend this is not an issue, they are being marginalized. There are those who would suggest that moving to clean energy will destroy our economy. We’re going to have to work on those folks.”