Obama huddled yesterday with Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and then with an expanded group of Caribbean leaders as he opened a three-day trip that will conclude with his attendance at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City.
Obama's travels come after a year spent devoting increased attention to the region by signing executive orders on immigration, seeking to slow the influx of Central American minors to the US border, tussling with Venezuela over human rights and initiating a historic diplomatic opening with Cuba.
Still, punishing electricity costs that are as much as five times more expensive than prices on the US mainland and a lack of energy security have long been major concerns in the scattered islands of the Caribbean. The sun-splashed, wind-swept region derives nearly all of its electricity from plants that burn imported oil and diesel.
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"If we can lower those costs through the development of clean energy and increased energy efficiency we could unleash, I think, a whole host of additional investment and growth," Obama said.
Energy security on the import-dependent island is a growing concern with the wobbly economy of oil-dependent Venezuela, where the Petrocaribe trade program created by the late President Hugo Chavez has kept Jamaica and much of the region dependent on the South American country for energy.