Obama sharpens jobs element of energy pitch

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — President Barack Obama, turning briefly to his eclipsed domestic agenda, sharpened his sales pitch for clean energy technology Thursday by promising that the payoff would be a wave of jobs — the kind good enough to support families and long-term American prosperity.

In a quick trip to Pennsylvania, a politically critical state, Obama proposed a tax credit and other ideas aimed at getting businesses to retrofit their buildings and save costs. He acknowledged that as presidential ideas go, making commercial buildings more energy efficient "may not sound too sexy," but he said the commitment to such research could save billions in utility bills and create jobs of true "national purpose."

"Making our buildings more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, combat pollution and create jobs," Obama told a supportive crowd of invited guests, many of them students, at Pennsylvania State University. The president chose Penn State largely because of its lead role in a research hub, under way in Philadelphia, that centers on energy-efficient technology.

Obama's broader aim is to build public and congressional support for the long-term economic ideas he outlined in his State of the Union address last week. The agenda of that speech, though, has since been vastly overshadowed by the political upheaval and violence in Egypt.

At Penn State, the president sought to underline how committing to energy could create jobs — the top concern across the country.

Referring to the emerging energy research center at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Obama said: "The discoveries made on this campus will lead to even more jobs — jobs in engineering, jobs in manufacturing, jobs in construction, jobs in insulation, jobs in retail. They'll be jobs with a national purpose — jobs that make our economy smarter, jobs that make our planet safer, jobs that maintain America's competitive edge."

The innovation hub is getting a big help from taxpayers: $129 million in federal money over five years.

As part of his new plan, Obama will ask Congress to provide companies with a tax credit that financially rewards them for retrofitting their buildings in ways that decrease energy usage. The proposal would alter the existing tax break fo

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