Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

Joe the materials man here - just to give you a bit of background I was a plumber but then worked on Wall Street for a few years as it was intellectually less demanding setting fire to $20 bills, then what with the crash an all I'm now back on Main Street in the materials business.

Anyhow, let's get to it, first of all well done on the election result. For such a young man you've done real good and on behalf of all us materials folk, 95% of the population of the planet, a small village in Kenya and 8 people in Texas we wish you well.

However, as my old mom used to say, "don't you be getting ahead of yourself". I mean it's not as if Grandpa Tongue Jutter and The Moose Hunter we're stiff competition. Plus, the guy who's in the big house at the moment couldn't have screwed things up more if he'd tried.

All my materials science buddies thought it real funny that "W" couldn't say "Nucular", he did his web research on "The Google" and he's just had to ask the Ozzie Prime Minister what the "Gee 20" were! I reckon he thought it was that dance troupe from Arkansas.

Now I know you appreciate that materials science underpins everything you are looking to do, but I just thought I should remind you of some of the things you said that you should nudge up your to-do list - sure you've got a few distractions with the economy and a couple of wars to sort out, but this stuff is important.

"Saying that America is addicted to oil without following a real plan for energy independence is like admitting alcoholism and then skipping out on the 12-step program. It's not enough to identify the challenge - we have to meet it"
Source

"We need solutions designed to permanently lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Unfortunately, both Congress and the White House have been unwilling to take the politically difficult steps necessary to confront one of the most pressing economic and national security challenges of the 21st century."
Source

"Now, there are plenty of reasons for Ford's financial troubles, but one of the most glaring has been their inability to compete with foreign counterparts by transitioning to the fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles that represent the future of the auto industry.
Source

Now to the main event and the bit we need you to focus on;

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest $150 billion over the next ten years to enable American engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, and begin the transition to a new digital electricity grid. This investment will transform the economy and create 5 million new jobs."
Source: www.barackobama.com/issues/technology

Now all of us in the materials business are big fans of this because we're the bedrock of what you're trying to achieve here and we should make a few bucks out of it, so let's get rollin!

Thanks, Joe.

P.S. How funny was it when I didn't turn up at Granpa's Party !