Michigan’s auto industry figured prominently in President Obama’s State of the Union speech last night.
He started by talking about a hard-working auto worker building fuel-efficient vehicles and helping America wean itself off foreign oil.
The president then introduced the new CEO of General Motors, who was sitting with the First Lady.
President Obama also introduced Detroit trucking company president Andra Rush. The president talked about how Rush used a federal job training program to find hundreds of workers for a new auto parts manufacturing business in Detroit.
“And what Andra and her employees experienced is how it should be for every employer and job seeker,” President Obama told the joint session of Congress.
The president also talked about the need for improving fuel-efficiency standards.
Obama noted that when the federal government stepped in to help GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy, it also led to higher fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks.
“In the coming months, I’ll build on that success by setting new standards for our trucks, so we can keep driving down oil imports and what we pay at the pump,” Obama said.
President Obama also made a pitch to increase the use of natural gas to fuel cars and trucks.
