WASHINGTON – President Obama’s previously postponed visit to Allison Transmission in Indianapolis has been rescheduled for Friday, May 6. The President will tour Allison’s facilities before speaking to workers about his long-term plan to protect consumers against rising oil prices and decrease oil imports while ensuring a cleaner, safer, and more secure energy future.
Allison Transmission is a leader in hybrid technology and the world’s largest manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, tactical military vehicles and hybrid-propulsion systems. Allison employs approximately 2,500 workers in Indiana and last month announced a plan to expand its Indianapolis operations that will create up to 205 new jobs by 2013. The company’s hybrid-propulsion systems for buses are used across the country and have saved more than 17 million gallons of diesel fuel.
When President Obama was elected, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. The President has set a goal of cutting that number by one-third by 2025, with a plan that includes a range of steps to produce more oil domestically while reducing our dependence on oil through cleaner fuels and greater efficiency.
Already, the Obama Administration has made historic progress through investments in clean energy, new fuel economy standards for cars and light-duty trucks that will save approximately 1.8 billion barrels of oil, and steps toward the first-ever fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. The President has also called for ending the $4 billion in taxpayer dollars we spend each year subsidizing oil and gas companies and redirecting those funds to invest in clean energy technologies that will further reduce our dependence on oil.