White House’s Nancy Sutley to Join Congressman Clyburn for a Clean Energy and Manufacturing Tour of South Carolina Midlands

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                      Contact: Taryn Tuss (CEQ) – (202) 456-6998
February 10, 2012                                       Hope Derrick (Clyburn) –(803) 799-1100
Karen Denning (Navistar) – (331) 332-3535
Mark Quinn (Electric Cooperatives)(803) 319-2549
Charlene Slaughter (Claflin) – (803) 535-5077

White House’s Nancy Sutley to Join Congressman Clyburn for a
Clean Energy and Manufacturing Tour of South Carolina Midlands

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nancy Sutley, President Obama’s principal environmental advisor and Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, will join Congressman James E. Clyburn, House Assistant Democratic Leader, on a tour of green manufacturing, energy efficiency and biofuel programs in the Midlands of South Carolina on Monday, February 13, 2012. This tour will highlight the blueprint the President laid out in the State of the Union for an American economy that is built to last, including through a comprehensive energy strategy that will enhance national security, protect the environment and public health, and create new jobs. The President also laid out proposals to bring about a new era of American manufacturing, including through lower tax rates for companies that manufacture and create jobs in the United States.

The officials first will join Ashlie Lancaster, Director of the South Carolina Energy Office, to tour PurePOWER’s manufacturing facility in Blythewood, SC. PurePOWER, a Navistar Inc. company, employs more than 250 people in the Blythewood facility, which manufactures high efficiency fuel injectors and emissions controls for large trucks. The company received $300,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through the state energy office.

Next, Chair Sutley and Congressman Clyburn will visit the Calhoun County home of Jordan Johnson, an independent contractor who struggled to pay his $500 monthly utility bills after the economic downturn. Through a pilot program at the Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Johnson received a $6500 loan for energy efficient upgrades to his home that he is repaying through the savings he has realized on his utility bill. As a result of this program, Mr. Johnson has cut his energy bills in half.

Finally, the officials will visit Claflin University’s Biofuel Production Initiative, which is conducting research into an alternative energy sources. The project is working to use bacteria to breakdown cellulosic material into a fuel known as butanol, which could be distributed using existing gasoline infrastructure without costly retrofitting. Congressman Clyburn has secured $4 million in federal funding for this research and development project.

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