Obama misses driving along Chicago’s Lake Michigan

NEW YORK - Living in a kind of secure bubble after assuming the office of the President of the United States in January 2009, Barack Obama on Thursday said that he longed for the days when he could freely drive along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.

In conversation with CBNC’s Phil LeBeau, he said: “I miss nothing more than just driving right along Lake Shore Drive. I would love to hop in a convertible right now on a nice day like today and drive all the way up along the lake. But I can’t do it. So, my driving is either at the Secret Service testing site, the training site there where you can do some J-turns and do some pretty spiffy moves, or the golf cart. Those are the two opportunities I get to drive, and I miss it tremendously.”

Diverting from personal aspects of his life, Obama also said that he was happy and excited to see auto majors like Ford, General Motors and Chrysler “retooling for the future,” a code for the Obama administration’s energy policy, which is focused on higher fuel efficiency standards and alternative energy vehicles made in America.

“Americans like big cars. It’s exciting to see companies like Ford producing SUVs that are more fuel efficient, like the Explorer. What I think we’re going to have to recognize is that we’ve got to be strong in the car market and in the truck market and in the SUV market, and all of those markets are going to be more fuel efficient in the future than they were in the past,” CBS News quoted Obama, as saying.

“That means new technologies. And one of the things I want to do is make sure that those cars are made here in the United States. So, alongside our-the help that we gave the auto industry, we’re also creating an entire advanced battery manufacturing industry here in the United States,” he added.

“Overall, our standards are going to be higher,” Obama said. (ANI)