Obama starts year with renewable energy pledge

US president-elect Barack Obama reiterated again at the weekend that strategic investments in renewable energy will be an integral part of his plan to create three million new jobs over the next two years.

"To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient," he said in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.

Obama offered no further specifics, but in the past he has said he will invest $100bn (£69bn) over 10 years in clean technology and has outlined plans for an upgraded national energy grid designed to harness and distribute power from wind, water and other alternative energy sources.

The president-elect will meet with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress this week to thrash out what he is calling an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

Green initiatives are expected to be central to the plan, which is estimated to cost $775bn and will also include spending on infrastructure and healthcare.

In his address, Obama said that the aim of the plan "not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term".

Although he is calling for bi-partisan support for his ideas, he is unlikely to achieve that goal.

Republican governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina said the plan could be disastrous.

"I think it has absolutely dire consequences with regard to inflation, the middle class and all Americans will, one day, face," he said.