Obama pledges effort to fight energy cost in Caribbean

During a trip to Jamaica Thursday, President Obama announced various efforts to encourage the development of low-carbon energy sources in the Caribbean.

Obama said moving Caribbean countries toward clean energy is a priority in the United States’ relations with those countries.

“This region has some of the highest energy costs in the world,” the president said in a speech to the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, a coalition of the region’s nations.

{mosads}The initiative includes a $20 million finance facility for clean energy projects in Caribbean and Central American countries, a United States-Caribbean task force and collaborative efforts to lend the United States’ expertise to countries wishing to expand low-carbon energy.

The U.S. is also financing a massive wind farm and in advanced talks to finance a solar array in Jamaica.

“Caribbean countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and we have to act now. This is an example of — large countries and small countries have to work together, because without collective action, we’re not going to be able to address these challenges,” Obama said, according to a transcript provided by the White House.

The president said he is confident the United States and its Caribbean partners “can make great strides over the short term and even greater strides over the long term” on clean energy.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz accompanied Obama on his trip and at the Caricom meeting.