THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________________________________ ___________ For Immediate Release October 23,2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENTCHALLENGING AMERICANS TOLEAD THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IN CLEAN ENERGY Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyBoston, Massachusetts 12:44 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:

Thank you very much.Please, have a seat. Thank you. Thank you, MIT.(Applause.) I am -- I am hugely honored to be here.It's always been a dream of mine to visit the mostprestigious school in Cambridge, Massachusetts.(Applause.) Hold on a second -- certainly the mostprestigious school in this part of Cambridge,Massachusetts. (Laughter.) And I'll probably be herefor a while -- I understand a bunch of engineeringstudents put my motorcade on top of Building 10.(Laughter.) This tells you something about MIT --everybody hands out periodic tables. (Laughter.)What's up with that? (Laughter.) I want I want to thank all of you for the warm

welcome and for the work all of you are doing togenerate and test new ideas that hold so muchpromise for our economy and for our lives. And inparticular, I want to thank two outstanding MITprofessors, Eric Lander, a person you just heardfrom, Ernie Moniz, for their service on my council of advisors on science and technology. And they havebeen hugely helpful to us already on looking at, forexample, how the federal government can mosteffectively respond to the threat of the H1N1 virus.So I'm very grateful to them. We've got some other special guests here I justwant to acknowledge very briefly. First of all, mygreat friend and a champion of science andtechnology here in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, my friend Deval Patrick is here.(Applause.) Our Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray ishere. (Applause.) Attorney General Martha Coakleyis here. (Applause.) Auditor of the Commonwealth, Joe DeNucci is here. (Applause.) The Mayor of thegreat City of Cambridge, Denise Simmons is in thehouse. (Applause.) The Mayor of Boston, TomMenino, is not here, but he met me at the airport andhe is doing great; he sends best wishes. Somebody who really has been an all-star inCapitol Hill over the last 20 years, but certainly overthe last year, on a whole range of issues --everything from Afghanistan to clean energy -- agreat friend, John Kerry. Please give John Kerry around of applause. (Applause.) And a wonderful member of Congress -- I

believe this is your district, is that correct, Mike?Mike Capuano. Please give Mike a big round of applause. (Applause.) Now, Dr. Moniz is also the Director of MIT'sEnergy Initiative, called MITEI. And he and PresidentHockfield just showed me some of the extraordinaryenergy research being conducted at this institute:windows that generate electricity by directing light tosolar cells; light-weight, high-power batteries thataren't built, but are grown -- that was neat stuff;engineering viruses to create -- to create batteries;more efficient lighting systems that rely onnanotechnology; innovative engineering that willmake it possible for offshore wind power plants todeliver electricity even when the air is still. And it's a reminder that all of you are heirs to alegacy of innovation -- not just here but acrossAmerica -- that has improved our health and ourwellbeing and helped us achieve unparalleledprosperity. I was telling John and Deval on the rideover here, you just get excited being here and seeingthese extraordinary young people and theextraordinary leadership of Professor Hockfieldbecause it taps into something essential aboutAmerica -- it's the legacy of daring men and womenwho put their talents and their efforts into the pursuitof discovery. And it's the legacy of a nation thatsupported those intrepid few willing to take risks onan idea that might fail -- but might also change theworld. Even in the darkest of times this nation has