Mayor Wynn Believes He Can

Praising his commitment to an environmentally-conscious energy policy, Austin's green-friendly Mayor Will Wynn today officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president.

"For too long, we've allowed old divisions to hold us back," Wynn said. "Recently I've had conversations about energy policy with presidential candidates from both parties, and I believe Senator Obama is the only person who can move us forward on this critical issue.

"Barack Obama gets it. He offers a commitment to confront our energy challenges in ways that will unite our country, help our economy flourish and protect our planet and national security for the next generation and beyond."

It's high praise indeed, coming from the guy who chairs the Energy Committee of the US Conference of Mayors. Wynn has spent the past few years championing various renewable energy projects, from plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to the Austin Climate Protection Plan, which seeks to eliminate nearly all greenhouse gas emissions from municipal activities by the year 2020. He's also given that famous Al Gore lecture a few times.

Obama, in turn, took some time from his busy campaign schedule to thank Wynn for the endorsement.

"Mayor Wynn has emerged as a national leader on energy policy and I'm honored to have his support," Obama said. "I don't believe that energy policy is something to bring up only when it's convenient during a campaign. It's one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation. Our future national security depends on achieving energy independence and it's an issue that will be front and center when I am president."

Meanwhile, former President George H.W. Bush is expected to announce his support for Republican front runner John McCain on Monday, hot on the heels of the current president's unofficial but obvious endorsement in last weekend's interview with "Fox News Sunday".

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Editor: Allen Y Chen
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