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President Obama to tout his energy plan at Bucks wind-turbine plant

President Obama will visit a Bucks County wind-turbine plant Wednesday to tout his plans to cut the nation's use of imported oil by one-third over the next decade while diversifying its energy sources, White House officials announced Friday.

President Obama will visit a Bucks County wind-turbine plant Wednesday to tout his plans to cut the nation's use of imported oil by one-third over the next decade while diversifying its energy sources, White House officials announced Friday.

The president plans to stop at Gamesa Technology Corp. in Fairless Hills, where he will hold a town-hall meeting with workers; the event is by invitation.

Amid rising gasoline prices caused by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, Obama has put a renewed emphasis over the last week on the need for energy independence.

"To truly make us secure and immune to the ups and downs of these price shocks, we need to end our addiction to oil," Heather Zirchal, Obama's adviser on energy issues, said in an interview Friday.

The administration is pushing the use of natural gas for fleet vehicles, and more use of biofuels and ethanol. Obama has promised to use regulatory power to increase fuel-efficiency standards for heavy trucks, as he has done with passenger vehicles.

Gamesa employs about 300 people at the facility, built on the site of a former U.S. Steel plant. The Spanish firm manufactures turbines used in the generation of wind-powered electricity.

Bucks County is an important swing area in Pennsylvania, expected to be hotly contested in Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.