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Environmentalists had lofty hopes when Obama entered the White House, but many have been disappointed. He failed to broker a cap-and-trade deal between the House and Senate in 2010 and backed off new ground-level ozone rules in 2011. But the EPA under Obama has enacted some of its strictest air-quality standards to date, particularly when it comes to regulating nitrogen and sulfur oxides.
Obama rejected a 2011 air-pollution rule on grounds that it would impose too much of a burden on industry and local government during the fragile economic recovery.
Still, the president in 2009 approved billions of dollars worth of investments for development of alternative-energy technology, as well as tax credits for residential renewable energy. He also signed off on the nation’s first offshore wind farm. In 2012, he has expressed a renewed interest in pushing cap-and-trade legislation after virtually eliminating that phrase from his speeches for two years.
In terms of protecting wild spaces, Obama launched the America’s Great Outdoors initiative to support and inspire community-led conservation efforts. He also decided to enforce rules that his predecessor had ignored on logging, mining, and road-building in national forests, and he advised all federal agencies to consider impacts on climate change when developing their management plans.
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Obama on EnvironmentObama's Statements (256)
So the steps I'm directing today and the steps I'm calling on Congress to take are just basic common-sense steps. They're not going to eliminate all the waste or all the abuse in government contracting in one fell swoop. And going forward, we'll also have to do more to hold contractors more accountable not just for paying taxes, but for following other laws as well, including employment and environmental laws.
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Our strategy to build economically competitive, environmentally sustainable, opportunity-rich communities that serve as the backbone for our long-term growth and prosperity -- three items: First, we'll build strong regional backbones for our economy by coordinating federal investments in economic and workforce development -- because today's metropolitan areas don't stop at downtown. What's good for Denver, for example, is usually good for places like Aurora and Boulder, too. Strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America.
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Second, we'll focus on creating more livable and environmentally sustainable communities. Because when it comes to development, it's time to throw out old policies that encouraged sprawl and congestion, pollution, and ended up isolating our communities in the process. We need strategies that encourage smart development linked to quality public transportation, that bring our communities together.
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That's why we'll improve our Partnership for Sustainable Communities by working with HUD, EPA, and the Department of Transportation in making sure that when it comes to development, housing, energy, and transportation policy go hand in hand. And we will build on the successful TIGER discretionary grants program to put people to work and help our cities rebuild their roads and their bridges, train stations and water systems.
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The fact is, these kinds of trading operations can create enormous and costly risks, endangering the entire bank if things go wrong. We simply cannot accept a system in which hedge funds or private equity firms inside banks can place huge, risky bets that are subsidized by taxpayers and that could pose a conflict of interest. And we cannot accept a system in which shareholders make money on these operations if the bank wins but taxpayers foot the bill if the bank loses.
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But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies. And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.
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I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy. I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But here's the thing -- even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future -– because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation.
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That's the leadership that we are providing –- engagement that advances the common security and prosperity of all people. We're working through the G20 to sustain a lasting global recovery. We're working with Muslim communities around the world to promote science and education and innovation. We have gone from a bystander to a leader in the fight against climate change. We're helping developing countries to feed themselves, and continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS. And we are launching a new initiative that will give us the capacity to respond faster and more effectively to bioterrorism or an infectious disease -– a plan that will counter threats at home and strengthen public health abroad.
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Even if -- and I mentioned last night we have to increase production on oil, we have to increase production on natural gas, because we're not going to be able to get all our clean energy up and running quickly enough to meet all of our economic growth needs. But even if we are increasing production we've got to get started now decreasing our use and making our economy more efficient.
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As you heard last night, that's why we're putting in place the policies that will enable us to reduce the debt we inherited and deal with the spending required to keep us from falling off the cliff this year. And during the process, you heard him say how we are reordering our country's priorities. We're investing in health care, education, energy information, technology, health technology -- electric vehicles and batteries, investments that will help us build a new economy for the 21st century -- investments that will allow us to lead in the 21st century as we did in the 20th.
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I represent the state of West Virginia. We're resource-rich. We have a lot of coal and a lot of natural gas. But our -- my miners and the folks who are working and those who are unemployed are very concerned about some of your policies in these areas: cap and trade, an aggressive EPA, and the looming prospect of higher taxes. In our minds, these are job-killing policies. So I'm asking you if you would be willing to re-look at some of these policies, with a high unemployment and the unsure economy that we have now, to assure West Virginians that you're listening.
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Look, I listen all the time, including to your governor, who's somebody who I enjoyed working with a lot before the campaign and now that I'm President. And I know that West Virginia struggles with unemployment, and I know how important coal is to West Virginia and a lot of the natural resources there. That's part of the reason why I've said that we need a comprehensive energy policy that sets us up for a long-term future.
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And the future is that clean energy -- cleaner forms of energy are going to be increasingly important, because even if folks are still skeptical in some cases about climate change in our politics and in Congress, the world is not skeptical about it. If we're going to be after some of these big markets, they're going to be looking to see, is the United States the one that's developing clean coal technology? Is the United States developing our natural gas resources in the most effective way? Is the United States the one that is going to lead in electric cars? Because if we're not leading, those other countries are going to be leading.
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And we began building the infrastructure, investing not just in roads and bridges, in airports and railways, but in the infrastructure of the future, something that John Hickenlooper knows a lot about, making sure that we've got high-speed in this country, making sure that we've got broadband lines in this country, making sure that we're investing in science and technology, and education and clean energy in America that is going to assure long-term growth and prosperity.
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And at the same time, we initiated investments to spur hiring while laying a foundation for long-term lasting growth. We doubled our capacity in renewable energy like wind and solar. We computerized medical records to save money and lives. We provided the largest boost to medical research in history. All across the country, classrooms and school laboratories are being renovated. Roads and railways are being upgraded as part of the largest investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower half a century ago initiated the Interstate Highway System.
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Because America can't solve our economic problems unless we tackle some of these structural problems. And America can't lead -- we can't succeed unless we're also getting a handle on our debt. We've got to confront this fiscal crisis that has been brewing for years. That's why we're cutting what we don't need to pay for what we do. That's why I signed a law that says Americans should pay as we go and live within our means. That's why yesterday I announced a bipartisan fiscal commission that will help us meet our fiscal challenges once and for all.
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One of the comments I wanted to make, coming from Europe where carbon is regulated, I see firsthand -- I have a company in France also -- that regulation works. It creates job. My company has been growing 30 percent every year in France for the past two years. And I really want to see that happen here. And I think that even if you don't believe in climate change, there's like byproducts that are awesome jobs. The country is going to advance technology-wise. We're going to become once again like we were with the space industry, the most advanced technologically country in the world. And so I really want to see these regulations happen because it's going to help all of us in the clean energy business.
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Okay. Well, let me just talk about -- this is -- when the conservatives have their conventions and they yell at me and say how terrible I am -- along with health care this is the other thing that they usually point out, which is that "the President wants to create this cap and trade system and it's going to be a job killer and it's one more step in the government takeover of the American economy." So this is a good place for me to maybe just spend a little time talking about energy and climate change.
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Well, that's the only idea that we're trying to talk about when it comes to these greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. If we say that, you know what, the pollution that's being sent into the atmosphere has a cost to all of us -- in terms of in some cases the air we breathe that's causing asthma, in some cases because it's causing climate change -- we just want you to take into account those costs and price energy accordingly. And that means that things like wind energy suddenly become more appealing because they don't produce those pollution -- those pollutants, and other sources of energy become less appealing because they do produce those pollutants.
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But the next phase of the act -- and I'll conclude with this and introduce the President -- the next phase of the recovery monies -- and there's a lot of it left -- is in projects, but also in signature projects that we hope are not only going to create -- we're confident are going to create jobs, we hope they're going to begin to lay a new platform for an economic growth cycle in the 21st century. They are innovative. They range from everything from broadband that a lot of you are working on to high-speed rail, to a new electric grid and meters, and investment in battery technologies -- a range of things that are designed not just merely -- which is critical -- to get the economy moving and keep it moving, provide jobs and initiate new jobs, but they're also leveraging a lot of private capital, a lot of money.
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With that, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the President, who is focused on rebuilding our infrastructure and sparking a new clean energy revolution, creating the best education system in the world. That's what he's undertaking. Some say we're doing too much, but the truth of the matter is, is there's no way that we can lead in the 21st century with the same energy policy, the same education system, and the same effort, same infrastructure we have now. So we've got to deal with all this. I think we're on the right path. I'm glad you all are the ones that are leading the effort for us. You've been a great source of ideas. And again let us know what you think we're doing right and what you think we're doing wrong.
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And nations around the world, from Asia to Europe, have already realized this. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re building high-speed railroads and expanding broadband access. They’re making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs. These countries know what’s required to compete in the 21st century. And so do we. As I said in the State of the Union, I do not accept second place for the United States of America.
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To spur the discovery of services and products and industries we have yet to imagine, we're devoting more than 3 percent of our GDP to research and development -– an amount that exceeds the level achieved at the height of the space race. We've also proposed making the research and experimentation tax credit permanent –- a tax credit that helps companies like yours afford the high costs of developing new technologies and new products.
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A competitive America is also America that finally has a smart energy policy. We know there's no silver bullet here. We understand that to reduce our dependence on oil and the damage caused by climate change, we're going to need more production in the short term, we're going to need more efficiency, and we need more incentives for clean energy.
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We’ve also launched an unprecedented effort to make our homes and businesses more energy efficient. We’ve announced loan guarantees to break ground on America’s first new nuclear plant in nearly three decades. We’re supporting three of the largest solar plants in the world. And I’ve said that we’re willing to make tough decisions about opening up new offshore areas for oil and gas development. So what we're looking at is a comprehensive strategy, not an either/or strategy but a both/and strategy when it comes to energy.
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But to truly transition to a clean energy economy, I’ve also said that we need to put a price on carbon pollution. Many businesses have embraced this approach -- including some who are represented here today. Still, I am sympathetic to those companies that face significant potential transition costs, and I want to work with this organization and others like this to help with those costs and to get our policies right.
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So what I would hope would happen is that we leave here not thinking that we're going to start all over. We can't get back those times. This is the last year for a whole lot of people in the House of Representatives who we believe we represent the people, too. Why can't we take what we've agreed to? I mean, sick people, scared people, are not Republican and Democrats. They're Americans. And you've made it abundantly clear that you have the same sensitivity, you recognize the fiscal crisis, you know what can happen to our country if we're not educated, if we're not strong in a healthy way. Have staff or somebody bring together those issues that cannot be contradicted in terms of what you want. And I know you want more than just 3 million people insured. You can explain why it's difficult for you to do it. But I know you would want to achieve having most all Americans or all Americans with the same health benefits because that's so important.
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To address climate change, we agreed that all nations aligned with the Copenhagen accord must meet their responsibilities. And I would note that President Sarkozy’s leadership has resulted in significant new resources to address deforestation around the world. Upcoming meetings at the United Nations and the Major Economies Forum will be an opportunity for nations to follow up their Copenhagen commitments with specific and concrete actions that reduce emissions.
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And just a few months after taking office, I also gathered the leaders of the world’s largest automakers, the heads of labor unions, environmental advocates, and public officials from California and across the country to reach a historic agreement to raise fuel economy standards in cars and trucks. And tomorrow, after decades in which we have done little to increase auto efficiency, those new standards will be finalized, which will reduce our dependence on oil while helping folks spend a little less at the pump.
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Today, we’re also going to go one step further. In order to save energy and taxpayer dollars, my administration -- led by Secretary Chu at Energy, as well as Administrator Johnson at GSA -- is doubling the number of hybrid vehicles in the federal fleet, even as we seek to reduce the number of cars and trucks used by our government overall. So we’re going to lead by example and practice what we preach: cutting waste, saving energy, and reducing our reliance on foreign oil.
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But we have to do more. We need to make continued investments in clean coal technologies and advanced biofuels. A few weeks ago, I announced loan guarantees to break ground on America’s first new nuclear facility in three decades, a project that will create thousands of jobs. And in the short term, as we transition to cleaner energy sources, we’ve still got to make some tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development in ways that protect communities and protect coastlines.
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So today we’re announcing the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration, but in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America’s natural resources. Under the leadership of Secretary Salazar, we’ll employ new technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration. We’ll protect areas that are vital to tourism, the environment, and our national security. And we’ll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence.
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There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling. But what I want to emphasize is that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy. And the only way this transition will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short term and the long run. To fail to recognize this reality would be a mistake.
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For decades we’ve talked about the threat to future generations posed by our current system of energy –- even as we can see the mounting evidence of climate change from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf Coast. And this is particularly relevant to all of you who are serving in uniform: For decades, we’ve talked about the risks to our security created by dependence on foreign oil, but that dependence has actually grown year after year after year after year.
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So moving towards clean energy is about our security. It’s also about our economy. And it’s about the future of our planet. And what I hope is, is the policies that we’ve laid out -- from hybrid fleets to offshore drilling, from nuclear energy to wind energy -- underscores the seriousness with which my administration takes this challenge. It’s a challenge that requires us to break out of the old ways of thinking, to think and act anew. And it requires each of us, regardless of whether we’re in the private sector or the public sector, whether we’re in the military or in the civilian side of government, to think about how could we be doing things better, how could we be doing things smarter -- so that we are no longer tethered to the whims of what happens somewhere in the Middle East or with other major oil-producing nations.
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So I’m open to proposals from my Democratic friends and my Republican friends. I think that we can break out of the broken politics of the past when it comes to our energy policy. I know that we can come together to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that’s going to foster new energy -- new industries, create millions of new jobs, protect our planet, and help us become more energy independent. That’s what we can do. That is what we must do. And I’m confident that is what we will do.
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And in the four decades since, millions of Americans have heeded that call and joined together to protect the planet. And we’ve made immense progress since that day –- from the landmark legislation of the 1970s, the Clean Air and the Clean Water Act, to the conservation of America’s precious landscapes.
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So since taking office, we have seized that opportunity. With your help, we’ve made a historic investment in clean energy that will not only create the jobs of tomorrow, but will also lay the foundation for long-term economic growth. We’ve continued to invest in innovators and entrepreneurs who want to unleash the next wave of clean energy. We’ve strengthened our investment in our most precious resources -- the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the parks and public spaces that we enjoy.
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I’ve spoken before about the need to build a new foundation for economic growth in the 21st century. And given the importance of the financial sector, Wall Street reform is an absolutely essential part of that foundation. Without it, our house will continue to sit on shifting sands, and our families, businesses, and the global economy will be vulnerable to future crises. That’s why I feel so strongly that we need to enact a set of updated, commonsense rules to ensure accountability on Wall Street and to protect consumers in our financial system.
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Now, Tom, very early on in our administration, we talked about how we could deal with water management, waste water management. And so in the Recovery Act, we actually funded billions of dollars of projects across the country, because we know that it’s hard for a lot of local communities to be able to get done what they want to do but they just don’t have the money to do.
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So we’ve talked about this problem for a long time -- how it threatened future generations. We talked about issues of how the climate is changing. We talked about how it threatened our national security because we’re dependent on other countries for what makes our country run -- dependence that grew deeper with every passing year.
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And as extraordinary as this facility is, here’s the thing -- wind power isn’t a silver bullet, it’s not going to solve all our energy challenges. There’s no single energy source. The key is to understand that this is a key component, a key part of a comprehensive strategy to move us from an economy that just runs on fossil fuels to one that relies on more homegrown fuels and clean energy. I believe that we can come together around this issue and pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that will ignite new industries, spark new jobs in towns just like Fort Madison, make America more energy-independent. Our security, our economy, the future of our planet all depend on it.
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Now, for decades, we’ve talked about doing this. For decades, we’ve talked about how our dependence on oil from other countries threatens our economy. But usually our will to act kind of rises or falls depending on the price at the pump. We talked about how it threatens future generations, even as we witnessed some funny things going on in terms of our climate change, and recognizing the environmental costs of relying on fossil fuels, but, frankly, we always said we’ll get to it tomorrow. We talked about how it threatened our security, but we’ve grown actually more dependent on foreign oil every single year since Richard Nixon started talking about this danger of dependency on foreign oil.
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Now, it was one year ago today that I stood here in the Rose Garden on a similarly beautiful day with some of the same folks to announce a historic agreement to help break America’s dependence on oil, to protect the planet that we’ll leave to our children, and to spur jobs and growth in the industries of the future. It was an agreement –- the first of its kind –- to raise the fuel efficiency and reduce the greenhouse pollution for cars and light trucks sold in the United States of America.
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A lot of people thought such an agreement was impossible. After all, for decades we had made little headway in improving the fuel efficiency of our cars. We’d hear a lot of urgent talk in Washington when oil prices went up, then we’d see politicians rush to the local gas stations -– I remember going to gas stations -- holding press conferences, announcing new legislation. But the impetus for action would fade when gas prices started to go back down. Meanwhile, progress was mired in a lot of old arguments traded across entrenched political divides: left versus right, management versus labor, business leaders versus environmental advocates.
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But what we showed here one year ago today is that we could do something different. We proved that these were false choices. We brought together all the stakeholders, including former adversaries, to support a policy that would benefit consumers, workers, and the auto industry -– while strengthening the economy and protecting the planet. One year later, we’re beginning to see the results. Instead of fighting higher standards, auto manufacturers are engaged in a race to meet them. And over the next five years, we expect fuel efficiency standards in cars and light trucks to reach an average of 35.5 miles per gallon.
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As a result, everybody wins. The typical driver will save roughly $3,000 over the life of the vehicle. We’ll reduce our dependence on oil by 1.8 billion barrels and cut nearly a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. This is the equivalent of taking 50 million cars off the road -– lowering pollution while making our economy more secure. And by setting a single standard in place, rather than a tangle of overlapping and uncertain rules, auto companies will have the clear incentive to develop more efficient vehicles. This, in turn, will foster innovation and growth in a host of new industries.
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So that’s what we set in motion one year ago. And today, we’re going even further, proposing the development of a national standard for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, just as we did for cars and light trucks. In a few moments, I’m going to sign a presidential memorandum, coordinated by my chief energy advisor, Carol Browner. It directs my administration, under the leadership of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, to develop a standard to improve fuel efficiency and reduce harmful emissions for trucks, starting with the model year 2014.
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This is going to bring down the costs for transportating -- for transporting goods, serving businesses and consumers alike. It will reduce pollution, given that freight vehicles produce roughly one fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation. We estimate, for example, that we can increase fuel economy by as much as 25 percent in tractor trailers using technologies that already exist today. And, just like the rule concerning cars, this standard will spur growth in the clean energy sector.
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We know how important that is. We know that our dependence on foreign oil endangers our security and our economy. We know that climate change poses a threat to our way of life -– in fact we’re already seeing some of the profound and costly impacts. And the disaster in the Gulf only underscores that even as we pursue domestic production to reduce our reliance on imported oil, our long-term security depends on the development of alternative sources of fuel and new transportation technologies.
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But we also know that our economic future depends on our leadership in the industries of the future. Around the globe, countries are seeking an advantage in the global marketplace by investing in new ways of producing and saving energy. From China to Germany, these countries recognize that the nation that leads in the clean energy economy will lead the global economy. And I want America to be that nation.
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And that’s why, when we fashioned the Recovery Act to get our economy moving again, we emphasized clean energy. Today, we’re supporting the development of advanced battery technologies. We’re doubling the capacity to generate renewable electricity. We’re building a stronger, smarter electric grid, which will be essential to powering the millions of plug-in hybrids -- cars and trucks that we hope to see on the roads. It’s estimated that through these investments, we’ll create or save more than 700,000 jobs. And these investments will help businesses develop new technologies that vehicle makers can use to meet higher fuel efficiency standards.
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Today’s announcement is an essential part of our energy strategy. But it’s not a substitute for other necessary steps to ensure our leadership in a new clean energy economy. I’m heartened by the good work that’s been done by Senator Kerry and Lieberman on a comprehensive energy and climate bill to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, to prevent the worst consequences of climate change, and foster the millions of new jobs that are possible if we rise to this challenge. And this follows the passage of comprehensive legislation through the House last June.
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Now the rest of us -- the rest of us must do our part. And to do so, we must first recognize that our strength and influence abroad begins with steps we take at home. We must educate our children to compete in an age where knowledge is capital, and the marketplace is global. We must develop clean energy that can power new industry and unbound us from foreign oil and preserve our planet. We have to pursue science and research that unlocks wonders as unforeseen to us today as the microchip and the surface of the moon were a century ago.
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Now, it is one of the great privileges, having been a senator, that I had a chance to work alongside Barbara. California has been a leader in promoting hybrids and compact cars and cleaner-burning fuels. And appropriately, you’ve got Senator Barbara Boxer, a sub-compact senator -- with a seemingly inexhaustible source of energy. And she already talked about how deeply she cares about the environment, about her work to pursue a clean energy future. And that work has never been more important than it is now. But I also want you to understand, this is a woman with extraordinarily deep passion to fight for all of you on a whole range of issues.
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Where was I? I was going down Memory Lane. So, we ended up initiating a series of steps -- the largest investment in clean energy in our history. Restoring the primacy of science and investing in research and development, the largest investment in infrastructure since Eisenhower built the Interstate Railway System. The largest investment in education by the federal government in our history. The most progressive -- the most progressive tax cut in our history to restore a sense of fairness to our tax system. Help for states so that they didn't have to lay off teachers and firefighters and police officers, including right here in California.
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And we’ve been putting it off for decade after decade after decade. And it is about time that we said to ourselves that we’re ready to make a change on behalf of the future of our children and our grandchildren. And it won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen tomorrow. It won’t happen next week. But if we start investing in clean energy technology and solar and wind and biodiesel, if we invest in hybrid plug-ins that can get 150 miles a gallon, if we start making our buildings more efficient and if we start finally saying to ourselves we can’t just let everybody pollute for free -- if we follow science and we follow some common-sense principles, then, look, oil is still going to be in the energy mix. We’re not going to eliminate that completely. But we are going to over time transition to ourselves and we will become more energy efficient, which will be good for our national security, it will be good for our economy, it will be good for our environment, it will be good for our future.
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We also provided relief for those hardest hit -- who not only needed help, but would most likely use the relief to generate more economic activity. So we extended unemployment benefits for more than 3 million California residents and made COBRA cheaper for people who’d lost their jobs so they could keep their health care for their families. We provided $250 in relief to more than 5 million California seniors -- many whose life savings had taken a big hit in the financial crisis. And we provided emergency assistance to our governors to prevent teachers and police officers and firefighters from being laid off as a result of state budget shortfalls. At a time when California is facing a fiscal crisis, we know that this has saved the jobs of tens of thousands of educators and other needed public servants just in this state. And what was true in California was true all across the country.
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We all know the price we pay as a country as a result of how we produce and use -- and, yes, waste -- energy today. We’ve been talking about it for decades -- since the gas shortages of the 1970s. Our dependence on foreign oil endangers our security and our economy. Climate change poses a threat to our way of life -- in fact, we’re already beginning to see its profound and costly impact. And the spill in the Gulf, which is just heartbreaking, only underscores the necessity of seeking alternative fuel sources. We’re not going to transition out of oil next year or 10 years from now. But think about it, part of what’s happening in the Gulf is that oil companies are drilling a mile underwater before they hit ground, and then a mile below that before they hit oil.
With the increased risks, the increased costs, it gives you a sense of where we’re going. We’re not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use. This planet can’t sustain it. Think about when China and India -- where consumers there are starting to buy cars and use energy the way we are. So we’ve known that we’ve had to shift in a fundamental way, and that’s true for all of us.
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And as work continues in the next couple of months to complete relief wells, my administration is intensively engaged with scientists and engineers to explore all alternative options, and we’re going to bring every resource necessary to put a stop to this thing. But a lot of damage has been done already -- livelihoods destroyed, landscapes scarred, wildlife affected. Lives have been lost. Our thoughts and prayers are very much with the people along the Gulf Coast.
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But even as we are dealing with this immediate crisis, we’ve got to remember that the risks our current dependence on oil holds for our environment and our coastal communities is not the only cost involved in our dependence on these fossil fuels. Around the world, from China to Germany, our competitors are waging a historic effort to lead in developing new energy technologies. There are factories like this being built in China, factories like this being built in Germany. Nobody is playing for second place. These countries recognize that the nation that leads the clean energy economy is likely to lead the global economy. And if we fail to recognize that same imperative, we risk falling behind. We risk falling behind.
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But we’ve still got more work to do, and that’s why I’m going to keep fighting to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation in Washington. We’re going to try to get it done this year, because what we want to do is create incentives that will fully unleash the potential for jobs and growth in this sector.
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As we devise strategies to try and stop this leak, we’re also relying on the brightest minds and most advanced technology in the world. We’re relying on a team of scientists and engineers from our own national laboratories and from many other nations -– a team led by our Energy Secretary and Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Stephen Chu. And we’re relying on experts who’ve actually dealt with oil spills from across the globe, though none this challenging.
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I also announced that no new permits for drilling new wells will go forward until a 30-day safety and environmental review was conducted. That review is now complete. Its initial recommendations include aggressive new operating standards and requirements for offshore energy companies, which we will put in place.
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What’s also been made clear from this disaster is that for years the oil and gas industry has leveraged such power that they have effectively been allowed to regulate themselves. One example: Under current law, the Interior Department has only 30 days to review an exploration plan submitted by an oil company. That leaves no time for the appropriate environmental review. They result is, they are continually waived. And this is just one example of a law that was tailored by the industry to serve their needs instead of the public’s. So Congress needs to address these issues as soon as possible, and my administration will work with them to do so.
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Let me make one final point. More than anything else, this economic and environmental tragedy –- and it’s a tragedy -– underscores the urgent need for this nation to develop clean, renewable sources of energy. Doing so will not only reduce threats to our environment, it will create a new, homegrown, American industry that can lead to countless new businesses and new jobs.
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We’ve talked about doing this for decades, and we’ve made significant strides over the last year when it comes to investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The House of Representatives has already passed a bill that would finally jumpstart a permanent transition to a clean energy economy, and there is currently a plan in the Senate –- a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans –- that would achieve the same goal.
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There have been areas where there have been disagreements, and I'll give you two examples. Initially on this top kill, there were questions in terms of how effective it could be, but also what were the risks involved, because we’re operating at such a pressurized level, a mile underwater and in such frigid temperatures, that the reactions of various compounds and various approaches had to be calibrated very carefully. That’s when I sent Steven Chu down, the Secretary of Energy, and he brought together a team, basically a brain trust, of some of the smartest folks we have at the National Labs and in academia to essentially serve as a oversight board with BP engineers and scientists in making calculations about how much mud could you pour down, how fast, without risking potentially the whole thing blowing.
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I continue to believe what I said at that time, which was that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall energy mix. It has to be part of an overall energy strategy. I also believe that it is insufficient to meet the needs of our future, which is why I’ve made huge investments in clean energy, why we continue to promote solar and wind and biodiesel and a whole range of other approaches, why we’re putting so much emphasis on energy efficiency.
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As far as cooperation in the Silicon Valley is concerned, yesterday we paid heed that everyone wishes to call the Silicon Valley the Kremlin Valley in Russia. Probably for English there is no difference, but in Russia there is. So in the Kremlin Valley it was very interesting -- the visit, I mean. And I looked at the activities of major companies that will, as I hope, become our close partners for modernization and technological advancement of our economy like -- those like Cisco. And yesterday we inked a memorandum on investment in some projects to the tune of great sums. And also I watched the activities of small companies situated in the Silicon Valley, which set an example of being efficient and effective and in the high-tech business.
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Speaking about our Silicon Valley, about the Skolkovo project, we in Russia adopted an unprecedented measure. We established a special legal framework -- I adopted a special law and we’re going to apply tax facilitation and also introduce a number of regimes to provide for better conditions of work. We are convinced that the U.S.-Russia economic potential is great.
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We will work personally and in the framework of the Presidential Commission established a while ago, but we also pin our hopes on the U.S.-Russia Business Dialogue established two years ago. We have representatives of this dialogue in this hall, and I’m very pleased that we are interacting on this topic and that eventually our joint projects will help us to overcome the difficulties threatening our economies, the world economy.
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Finally, we made progress on a range of global challenges that are critical to shared prosperity. We’re moving forward with the food security initiative that we announced last year, including by launching a special fund at the World Bank, which will strengthen farmers' productivity in the poorest countries. And we made progress toward a new coordinated approach so that we can invest more than $20 billion to reduce hunger and promote agricultural development.
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The G20 leaders renewed our commitment, made in Pittsburgh, to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. The United States has laid out our plans for achieving this goal, and we’re urging our G20 partners to do so as well. This would be one of the most important steps we can take to create clean energy jobs, increase our energy security and address the threat of climate change.
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The last time that Prime Minister Singh visited the United States, as part of a wonderful state dinner, we instituted what we termed a strategic partnership that involves all of our ministers at the highest levels working together to try to find ways to enhance commercial ties, security ties, coordination on critical multilateral issues like climate change. And as a consequence, Minister Krishna led a delegation to Washington to follow up, and working with Secretary Clinton, conducted some very high-level talks. I had the opportunity to participate in that dialogue.
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But if you think about the history of this country, we’ve always recognized that there are times when only government has been able to do what individuals couldn’t do and what corporations would not do. That’s how we have railroads and highways and public schools and police forces. That’s how we’ve made possible scientific research that led to the medical breakthroughs and technological wonders that all of us take for granted now. That’s why we have Social Security and a minimum wage and laws to protect the food we eat and the water we drink and the air we breathe. That’s why we have rules to ensure that mines are safe and that oil companies pay for the spills that they cause.
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We’ve got to build on that progress, not undo it. That’s why we need to pass legislation that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses. We’ve got to have a national mission to change the way we use energy and produce energy. And you know what, it will be good for our economy. It is going to drive our economy in the 21st century. It is not time for us to look backwards, it’s time for us to look forward right now when it comes to energy policy in this country.
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That legislation is an important step in the right direction. But I want to emphasize it’s only the first step. And I intend to keep pushing for broader reform, including climate legislation, because if we’ve learned anything from the tragedy in the Gulf, it’s that our current energy policy is unsustainable.
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And we can’t afford to stand by as our dependence on foreign oil deepens, as we keep on pumping out the deadly pollutants that threaten our air and our water and the lives and livelihoods of our people. And we can’t stand by as we let China race ahead to create the clean energy jobs and industries of the future. We should be developing those renewable energy sources, and creating those high-wage, high-skill jobs right here in the United States of America.
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Finally, I have charged, as I mentioned earlier, Ray Mabus to develop a long-term Gulf Coast restoration plan as soon as possible. That plan needs to come from the people in the Gulf, which is why he's been meeting with folks from across the region to develop this plan of action. That's how we can ensure that we do everything in our power to restore the environment and reverse the economic damage caused by the spill.
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We expect our commitment to clean energy to lead to more than 800,000 jobs by 2012. And that’s not just creating work in the short term, that’s going to help lay the foundation for lasting economic growth. I just want everybody to understand --just a few years ago, American businesses could only make 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles -- 2 percent. In just a few years, we’ll have up to 40 percent of the world’s capacity.
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Their basic philosophy goes something like this: We’re going to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, folks who don't need it, weren’t even asking for it. And we’re going to cut rules for special interests, gut regulations that protect clean air and clean water and things that most of us value. And then you’re going to cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. So if you can’t find a job or you can’t afford college or don’t have health insurance, tough luck -- you are on your own. Now, if you’re a Wall Street bank or an insurance company or an oil company like BP, come on in, help us write the regulations.
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The other area that I’ve already mentioned is infrastructure. We’ve got about $2 trillion worth of infrastructure improvements that need to be made all across the country -- roads, bridges, sewer lines, water mains. It’s crumbling. The previous generation made all these investments that not only put people to work right away but also laid the foundation then for economic growth in the future.
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Now, even as we continue our recovery efforts, we’re also focusing on preparing for future threats so that there is never another disaster like Katrina. The largest civil works project in American history is underway to build a fortified levee system. And as I -- just as I pledged as a candidate, we’re going to finish this system by next year so that this city is protected against a 100-year storm. We should not be playing Russian roulette every hurricane season. And we’re also working to restore protective wetlands and natural barriers that were not only damaged by Katrina -- were not just damaged by Katrina but had been rapidly disappearing for decades.
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Today, old adversaries are at peace, and emerging democracies are potential partners. New markets for our goods stretch from Asia to the Americas. A new push for peace in the Middle East will begin here tomorrow. Billions of young people want to move beyond the shackles of poverty and conflict. As the leader of the free world, America will do more than just defeat on the battlefield those who offer hatred and destruction -- we will also lead among those who are willing to work together to expand freedom and opportunity for all people.
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As we combat the spread of deadly weapons, we’re also confronting the specter of climate change. After making historic investments in clean energy and efficiency at home, we helped forge an accord in Copenhagen that -- for the first time -- commits all major economies to reduce their emissions. We are keenly aware this is just a first step. And going forward, we will support a process in which all major economies meet our responsibilities to protect the planet while unleashing the power of clean energy to serve as an engine of growth and development.
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PRESIDENT SANTOS: Thank you. I want to thank President Obama for his warm welcome and his generous words. We value in Colombia very much our very special relations with the United States. We're coming, ourselves, into a new era. Now that the security problem is more or less solved, we can now turn to a more progressive agenda. Social development, the prosperity of our people, climate change, the environment -- those are the type of issues that we can now include in our agenda. And we want to enhance our relation to a true partnership where Colombia and the U.S. can work together in the region and outside the region for our mutual benefit.
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As a Pacific nation, the United States has an enormous stake in the people and the future of Asia. The region is home to some of our largest trading partners and buys many of our exports, supporting millions of American jobs. We need partnerships with Asian nations to meet the challenges of growing our economy, preventing proliferation and addressing climate change.
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One of the most important things that we can do is something that doesn’t require all kinds of new technology. It doesn’t require huge, fancy investments. It’s just making our buildings, our homes, our schools, our hospitals more energy efficient: putting up insulation, getting in new windows, caulking, getting a new energy-efficient HVAC system. These things, if we did it across the board across the country, it could not only drastically reduce people’s electricity bills, drastically reduce their heating bills, their air-conditioning bills, their gas bills, it could also go about a third of the way in solving the problems of climate change and the pollution that is causing the temperatures around the globe to get warmer.
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We are going to make sure we continue to invest in clean energy and we enforce our clean air and clean water laws. You’ve seen what they're trying to do here in California, trying to roll back laws that will keep California at the cutting-edge. And now that we’ve got special interests spending millions of dollars out there to gut these clean air standards and clean energy standards, and they're doing the same thing all across the country -- millions of dollars in special interest money, using phony front groups. You don't know their names. They call themselves “Americans for Prosperity,” or “Mothers for Motherhood.” I made that last one up, but -- but it might as well be.
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And that’s what we’ve done over the last two years. And I could not be prouder of the record of accomplishment in this Congress. A lot of it happened so fast people didn’t realize it. Within the first few months, not only had we made investments in clean energy that were unprecedented, not only did we significantly increase our research and development so that we could continue to be an innovation economy, not only did we make the largest investment in infrastructure since Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System, not only did we make the largest investment in education in history, but we had made sure that 4 million children who hadn’t previously gotten it had health insurance.
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We know some of what we need to do to out-compete other countries in the 21st century. We need to offer our children the best education in the world. We need to spur innovation and new industries like clean energy that will create the jobs of tomorrow. We need to upgrade America’s crumbling infrastructure, its roads and bridges, update high-speed rail and high-speed Internet to connect every community. And we need to redouble our commitment to fiscal discipline and address our long-term deficit challenges.
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I also want to note that I support legislation to make clear -- in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision -- that the Secretary of Interior can take land into trust for all federally recognized tribes. That’s something that I discussed yesterday with tribal leaders.
We’re also breaking down bureaucratic barriers that have prevented tribal nations from developing clean energy like wind and solar power. It’s essential not just to your prosperity, but to the prosperity of our whole country. And I’ve proposed increasing lending to tribal businesses by supporting community financial institutions so they can finance more loans. It is essential in order to help businesses expand and hire in areas where it can be hard to find credit.
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Those who take the measure of his last mission will see his foresight. He understood that the futures of Afghanistan and Pakistan are tied together. In Afghanistan, he cultivated areas like agriculture and governance to seed stability. With Pakistan, he created new habits of cooperation to overcome decades of mistrust. And globally, he helped align the approaches of 49 nations.
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Three decades ago, on a January day like this, another American President stood here and welcomed another Chinese leader for the historic normalization of relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. On that day, Deng Xiaoping spoke of the great possibilities of cooperation between our two nations.
Looking back on that winter day in 1979, it is now clear. The previous 30 years had been a time of estrangement for our two countries. The 30 years since have been a time of growing exchanges and understanding. And with this visit we can lay the foundation for the next 30 years.
At a time when some doubt the benefits of cooperation between the United States and China, this visit is also a chance to demonstrate a simple truth. We have an enormous stake in each other’s success. In an interconnected world, in a global economy, nations -- including our own -- will be more prosperous and more secure when we work together.
The United States welcomes China’s rise as a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations. Indeed, China’s success has brought with it economic benefits for our people as well as yours, and our cooperation on a range of issues has helped advance stability in the Asia Pacific and in the world.
We also know this: History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful, and the world is more just, when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all people are upheld, including the universal rights of every human being.
, we can learn from our people. Chinese and American students and educators, business people, tourists, researchers and scientists, including Chinese Americans who are here today —- they work together and make progress together every single day. They know that even as our nations compete in some areas, we can cooperate in so many others, in a spirit of mutual respect, for our mutual benefit.
What Deng Xiaoping said long ago remains true today. There are still great possibilities for cooperation between our countries. President Hu, members of the Chinese delegation, let us seize these possibilities together. Welcome to the United States of America. Hwan-ying.
PRESIDENT HU: (As translated.) , Mrs. Obama, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, it gives me great pleasure to come to Washington and pay a state visit to the United States at the beginning of the new year, at the invitation of President Obama. At this point in time, let me extend, on behalf of the 1.3 billion Chinese people, sincere greetings and best wishes to the people of the United States.
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I have come to the United States to increase mutual trust, enhance friendship, deepen cooperation, and push forward the positive, cooperative, and comprehensive China-U.S. relationship for the 21st century.
Over the past 32 years, since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-U.S. relationship has grown into one with strategic significance and global influence. Since President Obama took office, with concerted efforts of the two sides, our cooperation in various fields has produced fruitful results and our relations have achieved new progress. This has brought real benefits to our two peoples, and contributed greatly to world peace and development.
As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, the people of both China and the United States want to see further progress in our relations and people around the globe want to see greater prosperity in the world. Under the new circumstances, and in the face of new challenges, China and the United States share broad common interests and important common responsibilities.
We should adopt a long-term perspective, seek common ground while resolving differences, and work together to achieve sustained, sound, and steady development of our relations. I hope that through this visit, our two countries will advance the positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship, and open a new chapter in our cooperation as partners.
Our cooperation as partners should be based on mutual respect. We live in an increasingly diverse and colorful world. China and the United States should respect each other’s choice of development path and each other’s core interests. We should deepen mutual understanding through communication, increase mutual trust through dialogue, and expand common ground through exchanges.
Our cooperation as partners should be based on mutual benefit. China’s future and destiny are increasingly tied to those of the world and China-U.S. relations have become closer. Our two countries should seek to learn from each other through exchanges and achieve win-win progress through cooperation. This is the right approach for us to develop our relations.
Our cooperation as partners should be based on joint efforts to meet challenges. China and the United States should step up communication and coordination in international affairs, work together to counter the global challenges, and make a greater contribution to world peace and development.
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This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. And in a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology -– an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.
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That’s what Americans have done for over 200 years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo projects of our time.
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Now, as important as these urgent priorities are, we’ve also got to make sure that the breakthroughs, the technological breakthroughs, that come to define the 21st century, that they take root right here in America. We’ve got to lead the world in innovation. I spent a lot of time talking about this last night. That’s how we’ll create the jobs of the future. That’s how we’re going to build the industries of the future, because we make smarter products using better technology than anybody else. That’s how we’ll win the future in the 21st century.
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America needs to get behind entrepreneurs like Neal. We need to get behind clean energy companies like Orion. We need to get behind innovation. That’s how we’ll meet the goal I set last night and make sure 80 percent of America’s electricity comes from clean energy sources by 2035. That is a goal that we can meet. That is a goal we must meet. (Applause. That’s how we’ll make America the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. In five years, a million electric cars on the road. That’s how America will lead the world in clean energy. And as I’ve said before, the nation that leads the world in clean energy will lead the global economy in the 21st century.
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MILITARY AIDE: John H. Adams. At a time when contaminated waterways and polluted air threatened too many of our communities, John H. Adams co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council to encourage responsible stewardship of our natural resources. A staunch defender of the wonders of our planet, he served as executive director and, later, as president of the NRDC, challenging Americans to live up to our responsibilities to leave something better to our children with an urgency matched by few others.
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So at the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln agreed to set aside more than 60 square miles of land in the Yosemite Valley -– land he had never seen -– on the condition that it be preserved for public use. Teddy Roosevelt, of course, our greatest conservation President, wrote that “there is nothing more practical in the end than the preservation of beauty.” Even FDR, in the midst of the Great Depression, enabled the National Park Service to protect America’s most iconic landmarks –- from Mount Rushmore to the Statue of Liberty. So conservation became not only important to America, but it became one of our greatest exports, as America’s beauty shone as a beacon to the world. And other countries started adopting conservation measures because of the example that we had set.
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But at a time when America’s open spaces are controlled by a patchwork of groups, from government to land trusts to private citizens, it’s clear that conservation in the 21st century is going to take more than just what we can do here in Washington. Just like the story of the Great Smoky Mountains, meeting the new test of environmental stewardship means finding the best ideas at the grassroots level. It means helping states, communities and non-profits protect their own resources. And it means figuring out how the federal government can be a better partner in those efforts.
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To help set aside land for conservation and to promote recreation, we’re proposing to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, for only the third time in our history. And we’re intending to pay for it with existing oil and gas revenues, because our attitude is if you take something out of the Earth, you have a responsibility to give a little bit back to the Earth.
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The great Rachel Carson once wrote that “The real wealth of the nation lies in the resources of the Earth -— soil, water, forests, minerals, wildlife... Their administration is not properly, and cannot be, a matter of politics.” Something more than politics. That was the call echoed by Jefferson and Lincoln and Roosevelt. It’s the call that has driven generations of Americans to do their part to protect a small slice of the planet. And it’s the call that we answer today.
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We talked about the fact that people were encouraged by the investments we’re making in clean energy, but one of the most important things we heard could be done -- and this is something that Steve is going to be taking up with his Startup America -- is creating networking opportunities in particular fields and in particular clusters because oftentimes it’s the contacts that you make in that networking process that may open up job opportunities. And you know what? That doesn’t cost the U.S. Treasury anything to set up but may make all the difference in terms of success.
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This is obviously a theme that I talked about during the State of the Union. It is my belief that we have all the pieces in place for us to make sure that the 21st century is the American Century just like the 20th was. But we're going to have to up our game in this newly competitive world. And that means that we've got to out-educate every other country in the world. We're going to have to out-innovate every country in the world. We've got to make sure that we've got the best infrastructure to move people and goods and services throughout the economy.
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In a region of the world where the legacy of colonialism is still fresh, there was a legitimate concern in the last century that opening your economies to more trade would lead wealthier countries to extract resources without regard to your own nation’s development. I understand that. At the same time, many Latin American nations, including this one, lived through decades of dictatorships where closed economies failed to produce decent standards of living for the vast majority of people.
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Now, even as we focus on oil in the near term, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the only long-term solution to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels is clean energy technology. And that’s why the United States and Brazil are deepening our cooperation on biofuels -- and why we’re launching a U.S.-Brazil Green Economy Partnership, because we know that the development of clean energy is one of the best ways to create new jobs and industries in both our nations.
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Already, more than half of the vehicles in Brazil run on biofuels. Nearly 80 percent of your electricity comes from hydropower. In the United States, we’ve jumpstarted a clean energy industry and we’ll soon have the capacity to produce 40 percent of the world’s advanced batteries. If we can start sharing these new technologies, and leverage private investment from businesses like the ones in this room, we can grow our economies and clean our environment by making, using, trading, selling clean energy products all over the world. That is a win for both our nations.
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Together we can also promote energy security and protect our beautiful planet. As two nations that are committed to greener economies, we know that the ultimate solution to our energy challenges lies in clean and renewable power. And that’s why half the vehicles in this country can run on biofuels, and most of your electricity comes from hydropower. That’s also why, in the United States, we’ve jumpstarted a new clean energy industry. And that’s why the United States and Brazil are creating new energy partnerships -- to share technologies, create new jobs, and leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer than we found it.
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We’re expanding the clean energy partnerships that are key to creating green jobs and addressing climate change, which is evident in the glacier melt in this region. As a member of the Energy and Climate Partnership for the Americas that I proposed, Chile is already sharing its expertise with solar with the region.
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But I want to be very clear and adamant. Chile is not going to build, nor is it planning to build any nuclear power plants during our government, during our administration. The idea of this agreement is that we may understand much better nuclear technologies, to be able to train our engineers and technicians so that in the future we may make more informed decisions, more intelligent decisions protecting the health and life of our population, the environment, and nature, and also that will allow us to ensure that the operation of our two experimental nuclear power plants be fully, fully safe.
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Another agreement is something addressing the only renewable resource of modern times -- science, technology and innovation and entrepreneurship -- that we need to restrengthen our countries so as to reach the development states that we are seeking. And then finally the agreements to better protect our nature, our environment.
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And as we have been able to evidence in our conversations not only today but also in your country and in Asia, we have discovered that our two nations have a road of collaboration that can be built on rock and not on sand, because we coincide in that which is key -- the values, the principles, the visions. That facilitates the road. And with that we can convincingly embrace this new alliance, this new partnership between the United States of America and the rest of the American countries -- we are all Americans -- an alliance that should be much deeper and forward-looking than the Alliance for Progress. And this partnership, this alliance is one of our times, of our 21st century, of the society of information and technology.
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And increasingly, Latin America is contributing to global prosperity and security. As longtime contributors to United Nations peacekeeping missions, Latin American nations have helped to prevent conflicts from Africa to Asia. At the G20, nations like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina now have a greater voice in global economic decision-making. Under Mexican leadership, the world made progress at Cancun in our efforts to combat climate change. Nations like Chile have played a leading role in strengthening civil society groups around the world.
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Of course, we are not the first generation to face these challenges. Fifty years ago this month, President John F. Kennedy proposed an ambitious Alliance for Progress. It was, even by today’s standards, a massive investment -- billions of U.S. dollars to meet the basic needs of people across the region. Such a program was right -- it was appropriate for that era. But the realities of our time -- and the new capabilities and confidence of Latin America -- demand something different.
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And we’re coming together, as a hemisphere, to create clean energy jobs and pursue more secure and sustainable energy futures. And if anybody doubts the urgency of climate change, they look -- they should look no further than the Americas -- from the stronger storms in the Caribbean, to glacier melt in the Andes, to the loss of forests and farmland across the region.
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And that’s why the United States has to continue to partner with countries that pursue the broad-based economic growth that gives people and nations a path out of poverty. And that’s what we’re seeing here in Chile. As part of our new approach to development, we’re working with partners, like Guatemala and El Salvador, who are committed to building their own capacity -- from helping farmers improve crop yields to helping health care systems to deliver better care.
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Security for our citizens. Trade and development that creates jobs, prosperity and a clean energy future. Standing up for democracy and human rights. These are the partnerships that we can forge together -- here in the Americas but also around the world. And if anyone doubts whether this region has the capacity to meet these challenges, they need to only remember what happened here in Chile only a few months ago.
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Finally, we’re deepening our efforts to pursue sustainable energy and to address climate change, which is already a harsh reality for Salvadorans and people across the region who face more frequent and more severe storms. El Salvador is already a leader in geothermal energy. Under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, El Salvador is working to connect grids in this region to make electricity more reliable. I want to commend President Funes for taking another step today -- agreeing to host a regional center where the nations of this region can come together to find new ways to reduce emissions and prevent deforestation.
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We need to also give our contribution in this partnership. And our difference is in that the financial aid capacity that we have. But just to include the country of El Salvador in this it’s a message to the international investors that we can trust El Salvador. The government of El Salvador is now working on a series of projects that will be presented to the inter-government teams in this next April -- we can have a better idea of which of these programs or these projects are going to be financed. And we have an initiative in the port region, especially, and the extension of the airport, which I explained to President Obama in our bilateral meeting that we just had, but also in the transportation public system, and also in renewable energy projects -- so that once we have these projects prepared and already submitted to the inter-government teams, we hope that, in turn, we will have taken a decision on this regard, but from a different perspective.
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This begins by continuing to increase America’s oil supply. Even for those of you who are interested in seeing a reduction in our dependence on fossil fuels -- and I know how passionate young people are about issues like climate change -- the fact of the matter is, is that for quite some time, America is going to be still dependent on oil in making its economy work.
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Now, even if we increase domestic oil production, that is not going to be the long-term solution to our energy challenge. I give out this statistic all the time, and forgive me for repeating it again: America holds about 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. What that means is, is that even if we drilled every drop of oil out of every single one of the reserves that we possess -- offshore and onshore -- it still wouldn’t be enough to meet our long-term needs. We consume about 25 percent of the world’s oil. We only have 2 percent of the reserves. Even if we doubled U.S. oil production, we’re still really short.
So the only way for America’s energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil. We’re going to have to find ways to boost our efficiency so we use less oil. We’ve got to discover and produce cleaner, renewable sources of energy that also produce less carbon pollution, which is threatening our climate. And we’ve got to do it quickly.
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But the potential for natural gas is enormous. And this is an area where there’s actually been some broad bipartisan agreement. Last year, more than 150 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle produced legislation providing incentives to use clean-burning natural gas in our vehicles instead of oil. And that's a big deal. Getting 150 members of Congress to agree on anything is a big deal. And they were even joined by T. Boone Pickens, a businessman who made his fortune on oil, but who is out there making the simple point that we can’t simply drill our way out of our energy problems.
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Going forward, we’ll partner with private companies that want to upgrade their large fleets. And this means, by the way, that you students, as consumers or future consumers of cars, you’ve got to make sure that you are boosting demand for alternative vehicles. You’re going to have a responsibility as well, because if alternative-fuel vehicles are manufactured but you guys aren’t buying them, then folks will keep on making cars that don’t have the same fuel efficiency. So you’ve got power in this process, and the decisions you make individually in your lives will say something about how serious we are when it comes to energy independence.
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Now, in light of the ongoing events in Japan, I want to just take a minute to talk about nuclear power. Right now, America gets about one-fifth of our electricity from nuclear energy. And it’s important to recognize that nuclear energy doesn’t emit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So those of us who are concerned about climate change, we’ve got to recognize that nuclear power, if it’s safe, can make a significant contribution to the climate change question.
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So a clean energy standard will help drive private investment in innovation. But I want to make this point: Government funding will still be critical. Over the past two years, the historic investments my administration has made in clean and renewable energy research and technology have helped private sector companies grow and hire hundreds of thousands of new workers.
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We’re already paying a price for our inaction. Every time we fill up at the pump, every time we lose a job or a business to countries that are investing more than we do in clean energy, when it comes to our air, our water, and the climate change that threatens the planet that you will inherit -– we’re already paying a price. These are costs that we are already bearing. And if we do nothing, the price will only go up.
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So at moments like these, sacrificing these investments in research and development, in supporting clean energy technologies, that would weaken our energy economy and make us more dependent on oil. That’s not a game plan to win the future. That’s a vision to keep us mired in the past. I will not accept that outcome for the United States of America. We are not going to do that.
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I think that precisely because you are coming of age at a time of such rapid and sometimes unsettling change, born into a world with fewer walls, educated in an era of constant information, tempered by war and economic turmoil -- because that’s the world in which you’re coming of age, I think you believe as deeply as any of our previous generations that America can change and it can change for the better.
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I mean, let’s just take energy as an example. Folks are out there dealing with gas at four bucks a gallon. It’s just another hardship, another burden, at a time when we’re just coming out of a recession and things are already pretty tight for folks. Now, whenever this happens, just like clockwork, you see politicians going in front of the cameras and they’ll say they’ve got a three-point plan for two-buck-a-gallon gas. The truth is, the only real solution to helping families at the pump in the medium and the long term is clean energy. That’s how we’ll save families money. That’s how we’ll reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We’ve got to develop new technologies to lessen our reliance on a fuel that is finite and that we’ve got to import from other countries, including some very unstable parts of the world. And that’s why I think that cutting clean energy investments by 70 percent -- 70 percent, which has been proposed by some in Congress -– would be such a mistake.
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We’ve also increased fuel-efficiency standards on cars for the first time in 30 years. That will save about 1.8 billion gallons -- or barrels -- of oil, billion barrels of oil. And we can now increase fuel-efficiency standards on cars and trucks, and that could make a huge difference because now consumers are just -- whenever they go to buy a new car, by necessity that car is going to have higher mileage standards. All that drives down demand and can reduce gas prices overall.
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Now, it’s true that coal is something that’s very plentiful in America. We’re sort of the Saudi Arabia of coal. The challenge with coal is that although it’s very cheap, it’s also dirty. And it can create the kinds of air pollution that not only is contributing to climate change but is also creating asthma for kids nearby.
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Internationally, we're seeing the sorts of changes that we haven't seen in a generation. We've got certain challenges like energy and climate change that no one nation can solve but we're going to have to solve together. And we don't yet have all the institutions that are in place in order to do that.
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The best way for us to reduce usage is in the transportation sector. So a couple of things that we’re doing already: Number one, we increased fuel-efficiency standards on cars last year for the first time in 30 years. First time in 30 years. It’s going to save us 1.8 billion barrels of oil. And by the way, we didn’t do it through legislation. We got the car companies, autoworkers, environmental groups -- we got everybody to agree that this made sense for America. So that’s point number one.
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Is it a vision of America that is big and ambitious and generous and says we’re going to invest in clean energy, and we are going to invest in our kids’ college educations, we’re going to invest in math and science education because we know that innovation is going to be the key to the 21st century? And we’re going to invest in our infrastructure because we want to make this a great country to do businesses, and we understand that means moving goods and services and people and information efficiently around the country?
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And then there’s the environmental aspect of it. There are climate change deniers in Congress and when the economy gets tough, sometimes environmental issues drop from people’s radar screens. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that unless we are able to move forward in a serious way on clean energy that we’re putting our children and our grandchildren at risk.
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But let me tell you what I won’t do. I will not reduce our deficit by sacrificing the things that have always made America great. The things that have made Americans prosper. I will not sacrifice our investment in education. I won’t sacrifice scholarships for our students or medical research for our scientists. I won’t sacrifice the safety of our highways or our airports. I will not sacrifice our investment in clean energy at a time when our dependence on foreign oil is causing Americans so much pain at the pump. I won’t sacrifice clean air and clean water. I will not sacrifice America’s future.
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We’re not going to pull up the ladder behind us. I’m not going to reduce our deficit by sacrificing the things that always made up great as a people. I’m not going to sacrifice investments in education. I’m not going to make scholarships harder to get and more expensive for young people. I’m not going to sacrifice the safety of our highways or our airports. I’m not going to sacrifice clean air and clean water. I’m not going to sacrifice clean energy at a time when we need to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, and folks are getting killed at the pump. I’m not going to sacrifice America’s future.
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We imagine a big America where we’re investing in the same kind of science that invented the Internet. We want to invent the next big energy breakthrough that is going to make sure that we’re no longer dependent on foreign oil, and we can start finally doing something about climate change, and we’re not vulnerable to huge spikes in gasoline prices. We want that transformation starting here in the United States of America.
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And preserving this idea -- keeping the American Dream alive from one generation to the next -- that’s never been an easy task. It’s an even greater test in times of rapid change. And all of you are graduating at a moment when change is coming faster than ever before. We’re emerging from an economic downturn like we haven’t seen since the 1930s. Massive shifts in technology have shifted profoundly what our economy looks like. Massive shifts abroad geopolitically have swift and dramatic impacts not only overseas but also here at home, from markets on Wall Street to wallets on Main Street. Just as advances in technology have the power to make our lives better, they also force us to compete with other nations like never before. Tackling big challenges like terrorism and climate change require sustained national effort, and yet too often, our politics seems as broken, as divided as ever.
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Well, first of all, I do think that we’ve made enormous progress in Libya. We have saved lives as a consequence of our concerted actions. I think it is important to note that we did so under a U.N. mandate and as part of a broad-based international coalition that includes Arab countries. And I absolutely agree that given the progress that has been made over the last several weeks, that Qaddafi and his regime need to understand that there will not be a letup in the pressure that we are applying. And the United Kingdom, the United States, and our other partners are putting a wide range of resources within -- consistent with the U.N. mandate -- in order to achieve that pressure. And I think we will ultimately be successful.
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Together, we have met great challenges. But as we enter this new chapter in our shared history, profound challenges stretch before us. In a world where the prosperity of all nations is now inextricably linked, a new era of cooperation is required to ensure the growth and stability of the global economy. As new threats spread across borders and oceans, we must dismantle terrorist networks and stop the spread of nuclear weapons, confront climate change and combat famine and disease. And as a revolution races through the streets of the Middle East and North Africa, the entire world has a stake in the aspirations of a generation that longs to determine its own destiny.
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Adam Smith’s central insight remains true today: There is no greater generator of wealth and innovation than a system of free enterprise that unleashes the full potential of individual men and women. That’s what led to the Industrial Revolution that began in the factories of Manchester. That is what led to the dawn of the Information Age that arose from the office parks of Silicon Valley. That’s why countries like China, India and Brazil are growing so rapidly -- because in fits and starts, they are moving toward market-based principles that the United States and the United Kingdom have always embraced.
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That gives nations like the United States and the United Kingdom an inherent advantage. For from Newton and Darwin to Edison and Einstein, from Alan Turing to Steve Jobs, we have led the world in our commitment to science and cutting-edge research, the discovery of new medicines and technologies. We educate our citizens and train our workers in the best colleges and universities on Earth. But to maintain this advantage in a world that’s more competitive than ever, we will have to redouble our investments in science and engineering, and renew our national commitments to educating our workforces.
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A financial crisis that began on Wall Street infected nearly every continent, which is why we must keep working through forums like the G20 to put in place global rules of the road to prevent future excesses and abuse. No country can hide from the dangers of carbon pollution, which is why we must build on what was achieved at Copenhagen and Cancun to leave our children a planet that is safer and cleaner.
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We want to make sure that NATO and EU membership remain open. We think that’s important. We think that Poland, because of its extraordinary success, both as a democracy and as a market-based economy, is a model and example for the region. And the incredible transformation that’s taken place over the last 25 years here in Poland is now making it a leader in Europe -- as we look forward to an EU presidency for Poland, that’s an example of the leadership that it’s taking -- but also as countries like Ukraine look to Poland, and Poland I think exerts a very helpful influence in showing a pathway for modernization and democratic reform.
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Along those lines, we are interested and excited about Poland’s plans for the Eastern partnership as a priority of its EU presidency. And I understand that it will host a summit this fall to raise awareness and support for Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. And the dinner that I had yesterday was an indication of Poland’s leadership in helping to shape a vision for the region that continues down a path that offers more opportunity and more prosperity to people. And obviously one of the important roles that Poland can play is not just as a promoter of ideas but as a living example of what is possible when countries take reform seriously.
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The United States is also fully committed to supporting safe nuclear power generation in Poland, and we’re prepared to offer our expertise of the largest and safest nuclear power industry in the world.
And finally we discussed the issue of how jointly we can promote democracy. The session that I had this morning with democracy promotion experts, including many of the founders of Solidarity, who recently traveled to Tunisia to share their advice and assistance, is just a symbol of why Poland is so important. It has gone through what many countries want to now go through, and has done so successfully. And so the United States wants to work with Poland, and we welcome their leadership in reaching out to North Africa and the Middle East.
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That does not eliminate the need for us in both countries and all around the world to continue to develop other clean energy sources like solar, like wind, biomass. And we are putting a lot of basic research dollars into this clean energy space because we think it’s going to be important not only for our individual countries but for dealing with greenhouse gases and climate change.
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And shale gas -- well, for obvious reason, it was a subject of important talks -- and nuclear power. We agreed with President Obama that these undertakings are really an excellent area for Polish-American cooperation. And I am sure that it will bring good results. To the Polish people, American people, it will be both joint business and joint common energy security. And it will also be of use to a united Europe, this cooperation that will also give to Europe more stability in terms of energy.
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Of course, in the years ahead, a key to achieving our export goal will be promoting clean energy in America. It’s how we’ll reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And that’s how we’ll encourage new businesses and jobs to take root on our shores. John understands this better than virtually anybody. Throughout a distinguished career in which he’s led nonprofits, government agencies, and large companies, he’s been a fierce proponent of alternative energy.
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It was then that John caught the eye of a young California governor named Jerry Brown. I’m not sure what happened to that guy, but -- but for John it led to leadership positions in government, where he got a firsthand look at the real-life impact of energy and environmental policies, from water conservation to electricity production.
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We can’t stop medical research being done by our scientists. We can’t stop building the infrastructure that made this country great. I’m not going to sacrifice clean energy at a time when our dependence on foreign oil has caused Americans so much pain at the pump. That doesn't make any sense. In other words, I will not sacrifice America’s future.
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When I was elected -- I think back to 2008 and Grant Park, and it was a beautiful night -- I said to people, this is not the end, this is the beginning, and that we were going to have a steep hill to climb. I had gotten into the race because of this profound belief in America, but also because there was a huge gap between what I thought America could be and where we were. That we had seen a decade where incomes and wages had stagnated. We had seen the absence of any coherent energy policy that would free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil and help to clean up the planet. Our education system -- there was a lot of talk about reforming it, but we hadn’t made the kind of progress that would allow us to be competitive in the 21st century.
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We had kicked the can down the road for too long on critical issues like having an energy policy that would allow us to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil, and would allow us to clean up the environment and make sure that the new jobs of the future were created right here in the United States of America.
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And some of the big projects that we set for ourselves during the campaign have not yet been done. We still don’t have an energy policy that is suitable for the 21st century. We still have to invest in clean energy, that solar panels and wind turbines are built right here in this country, and electric cars are built right here in the country -- and we are focused not on the energy sources of the past, but the energy sources of the future. We still have that project to deal with climate change in a serious way. Those things haven’t changed.
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So Local Motors solicited design ideas on their website, chose the best out of 162 that it received, built and brought this new vehicle here ahead of schedule. We just took a look at it. Not only could this change the way the government uses your tax dollars -- because think about it, instead of having a 10-year lead time to develop a piece of equipment with all kinds of changing specs and a moving target, if we were able to collapse the pace at which that manufacturing takes place, that could save taxpayers billions of dollars. But it also could get products out to theater faster, which could save lives more quickly, and could then be used to transfer into the private sector more rapidly, which means we could get better products and services that we can sell and export around the world. So it’s good for American companies. It’s good for American jobs. It’s good for taxpayers. And it may save some lives in places like Afghanistan for our soldiers.
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We have to have an energy policy in this country. We still don’t have one, which is why so many people around the country are so vulnerable to changes in the price of oil. And so what we’ve done through the Recovery Act and through clean energy programs all across the country is making sure that clean energy jobs are created here in the United States and we’re starting to create a more efficient transportation sector so that we can start weaning ourselves off of dependence on foreign oil.
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And a lot of people don’t realize that even without legislation last year, we raised fuel-efficiency standards on cars for the first time in 30 years, and we’re going to do it again. But reversing our energy policy and making it smart in a way that not only saves people’s dollars but also helps save the planet, that’s not a two-year project. That’s a multiyear project.
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We live in a world where America is facing stiff competition for good jobs from rapidly growing nations, like China and India and Brazil. For a long time we were told the best way to win that competition is just to undermine consumer protections and undermine clean air laws and clean water laws and hand out tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. That was the idea that held sway for close to a decade. And let's face it, it didn’t work out very well.
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I was talking to the CEO of Southwest Airlines and we’ve been doing a lot of work on the need for a next-generation air control system. And he said to me -- think about this -- that if we fixed, updated an air control system that was basically put in place back in the ‘30s, if we upgraded that to use GPS and all the new technologies, the average airline would save 15 percent in fuel -- 15 percent -- which some of that you’d get in terms of lower airfare. That’s 15 percent less carbon going into the atmosphere, for those of you who are concerned about climate change. So why wouldn’t we do that? Now, it cost some money to do it initially, but if we make the investment it will pay off.
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With respect to economic development, all of us agree that we can’t keep on duplicating a approach that breeds dependence, but rather we need to embrace an approach that creates sustainability and capacity within each of these countries, through trade and investment and the development of human capital and the education of young people throughout these countries.
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Using less oil also means our cars will produce fewer emissions. So when your kids are biking around the neighborhood, they’ll be breathing less pollution and fewer toxins. It means we’re doing more to protect our air and water. And it means we’re reducing the carbon pollution that threatens our climate.
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So I want to once again thank automakers. I want to thank workers. I want to thank the state of California -- which has been -- the state of California has consistently been a leader on this issue. I want to thank the environmental leaders and elected officials, including Leader Pelosi who is here, and the leaders here from the Michigan delegation and -- because obviously the state of Michigan has a huge stake and has been on the cutting-edge of these issues and have helped to pave the way forward. I want to thank all of you for helping to reduce our dependence on oil, on growing the economy, and leaving for future generations a more secure and prosperous America.
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All I want to emphasize is, is that when you look at farm economies, right now obviously prices are good, but given the volatility of the world market, for us to be able to figure out how we can also use energy and conservation as an enhancement to the core business of feeding people, then I think that we can make enormous progress. And Tom has a lot of creative ideas. Our Department of Energy, we’ve made this one of our highest priorities. And so I’m very interested in figuring out how the federal government can be even more helpful than it already is in moving this agenda forward.
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And I just want to say on behalf of Illinois agriculture, we’re glad that you’re in the heartland. And as you know, Illinois agriculture is the major economic driver in this state that employs close to a million people. And my concern is this: As a fourth-generation farmer, we’re very concerned with some of the regulatory challenges that are coming our way as it relates to the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. We’re concerned with what’s going in the Chesapeake Bay, and the fears that that might come to the Mississippi River Basin. And I guess my challenge, , is that you work with the EPA Administrator to put some common sense back into some of these regulatory discussions so we don’t regulate farmers out of business.
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There is not a rule or regulation that we don’t do a complete cost-benefit analysis at this point, and that we don’t have intensive discussions with those who would potentially be affected. Now, what I do think is true is that, in the past -- I’ll say not under my administration, but I think in the past historically -- there have been times where the EPA or other regulatory agencies don’t listen to farmers and figure out how can we provide them flexibility in meeting some of their goals.
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Don’t be fooled. I think if somebody goes out and says, we can’t afford clean air and clean water, that’s wrong. I don’t believe that. And I don’t think most farmers would agree with that, because, ultimately, nobody is better stewards of the land. And the reason we’ve got these incredible farms all around us is because we’ve got incredibly rich soil. We’ve got to make sure that we’re conserving that soil. We’ve got to make sure that our air and water continues to be healthy for our kids. And I think farmers care about that more than anybody.
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But nobody is more interested in seeing our agricultural sector successful than I am, partly because I come from a farm state. And I spent a lot of time thinking about downstate issues as a United States senator. And I’m very proud of the track record that we’ve developed. If you look at what’s been happening in terms of agricultural exports -- what’s been happening in terms of agricultural income during the time that I’ve been President of the United States -- I think we’ve got a great story to tell. And I want to continue to work with you and other farmers to make sure that we’re doing it in the right way that’s not inhibiting you from being successful.
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Well, first of all, you’re absolutely right that housing has been at the key -- at the core of a lot of the hardships we’ve been going through over the last two and a half years. And that’s why we’ve made it such a priority to try to help families stay in their homes the last two and a half years. And that’s why we’ve made it such a priority to try to help families stay in their homes if they can still afford the home. There were some folks who couldn’t -- who bought homes they couldn’t afford, but there were a lot of folks who just had a run of bad luck because somebody lost a job or lost a shift. And so what we’ve been trying to do is push the banks, push the servicers to do loan modifications that will allow people to stay in their homes and will try to buck up housing prices generally.
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So those are examples of things that we can do administratively. The other thing -- this gentleman here asked me about regulations. Well, one of the things we’re doing is we’re saying, show us particular regulations that may be getting in the way of you hiring. And there are going to be some that are important. We want clean air. We want clean water. But if there’s a bunch of bureaucratic red tape and it’s not actually improving the situation, let’s figure out how to get rid of some existing rules and let’s review every rule that comes in for its cost and its benefits. Again, that’s something that we can do administratively.
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And so hopefully your grandfather, with his ethanol plant, is starting to work with our Department of Agriculture to find new approaches to the biofuel industry. But this is a huge area of support. This is another example of where we’ve got to make sure that our budget continues to invest in basic research, and that costs money. And if all we’re doing is cutting and we’re not thinking about investments, then over time we’re going to fall behind to countries like Brazil, where they’ve already got a third, I think, of their auto fleet operates on biofuels. Well, that’s -- there’s no reason why we should fall behind a country like Brazil when it comes to developing alternative energy. I want to be number one in alternative energy, and that’s good for the farm economy.
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So I’m calling on Congress, as soon as they come back, to pass a clean extension of the surface transportation bill, along with a clean extension of the FAA bill, to give workers and communities across America the confidence that vital construction projects won’t come to a halt.
After that’s done, I’m also proposing that we reform the way transportation money is invested, to eliminate waste, to give states more control over the projects that are right for them, and to make sure that we’re getting better results for the money that we spend. We need to stop funding projects based on whose district they’re in, and start funding them based on how much good they’re going to be doing for the American people. No more bridges to nowhere. No more projects that are simply funded because of somebody pulling strings. And we need to do this all in a way that gets the private sector more involved. That’s how we’re going to put construction workers back to work right now doing the work that America needs done -- not just to boost our economy this year, but for the next 20 years.
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Domestically, we still have a lot more to do to heal this economy and to deal with some of the structural problems that existed even before the financial crisis hit. We still don’t have an energy policy in this country that will free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, and can also generate new jobs in a new clean energy space.
We still don’t have the kinds of trade strategies that will open ourselves up to new markets, but make sure that we’ve got trade that’s fair, between ourselves and particularly the growing markets in the Pacific and the Asia region. We still have enormous challenges because middle-class families have not seen their wages and their incomes rise for the last 20 years, even as those of us at the very top have seen an extraordinary explosion in our wealth and our incomes.
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That means we have to build on the education reforms that we’ve already initiated to make college more affordable. We still have not done enough to have an energy policy that frees ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. We’ve done a lot. We’ve doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars -- probably the biggest impact in environmental action over the last 30 years. But we’re still wasting too much energy that we can’t afford to waste in this new environment.
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In terms of regulations, most of the regulations that we have been focused on are ones that affect large businesses, like utilities, for example. In terms of how they deal with safety issues, environmental issues, we have been putting forward some tough regulations with respect to the financial sector, because we can’t have a repeat of what happened in 2007.
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-- that anybody who wants to serve this country should be prohibited because of who they love. We passed some of the toughest financial regulations in our history, including making sure that consumers are finally getting the protection they deserve. We made sure that, despite constant battles with Congress that we continue to make progress on the environmental front. And some of it we did administratively. So we made sure, for example, that for the first time in 30 years we are doubling fuel efficiency standards on cars and trucks and heavy trucks -- which will reduce carbon in our atmosphere and actually save folks money over the course of their lifetimes.
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The American people are going through a very tough time. This is a big transition -- and by the way, it's not unique to America. This is a global shift that's taking place. We've got a world that has shrunk and is interconnected and is more competitive than ever. And every country out there is trying to adjust and trying to figure out, how do we make sure we've got the best educated citizens, and how do we make sure we've got the most dynamic, innovative economy, and how are we making sure that we're investing in industries of the future, like clean energy, and how do we make certain that in our international affairs we're projecting power not just based on our military but also based on our diplomacy and the power of our ideas.
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-- where you basically let corporations write their own rules, and we dismantle environmental regulations and we dismantle labor regulations, and we cut taxes for folks who don’t need it and weren’t even asking for it, and then we say to you, you’re on your own -- good luck, because you’re not going to get any help. Nobody is going to give you a hand up. Nobody is going to help kids who have the talent and the will and the drive to do well but maybe just haven’t had the opportunity yet.
That’s one vision of America. But that’s not the vision that we fought for in 2008. That’s not the vision you believe in. It’s not the vision I believe in. And I am confident that is not the vision that America believes in. And that’s what this campaign is going to be all about.
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We need to work short term and we’re going to need to work long term. Because, after we pass this jobs bill, we’re still going to have work to do. We’re still going to have to reform our education system. We’re still going to have to make sure that we’ve got an immigration system in this country that is fair -- and, yes, secures our borders, but also makes sure that folks who are here aren’t living in the shadows. We’ve still got to make sure that we have an energy policy that is smart for our pocketbooks and frees ourselves from dependence on foreign oil -- and make sure that we’re doing something about climate change.
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I appreciate also very much that we had the opportunity to focus on the High North. The High North is a area where we are seeing new possibilities, new challenges, but also new dangers. And the ice is melting. Actually, in the High North we see the consequences of global warming. But at the same time, that opens up new possibilities for energy developments, but also for sea routes, and it increases the need for cooperation between the countries bordering the Arctic area, and the U.S. and Norway are among them.
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I appreciate that we can continue our cooperation when it comes to climate change, because we’ve worked together on halting deforestation, reducing deforestation. And that’s the way we can achieve the biggest, the cheapest and the fastest reductions in emissions. We work together in Indonesia in reducing deforestation.
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Over the past two years, we’ve already taken some steps to help families refinance their mortgages. Nearly one million Americans with little equity in their homes have gotten assistance so far. And we’ve also made it easier for unemployed homeowners to keep their homes while they’re looking for a job. And we’re working to turn vacant properties into rental housing, which will help reduce the supply of unsold homes and stabilize housing prices here in Las Vegas and all across the country.
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This is the fight that we’re going to have right now, and I suspect this is the fight that we’re going to have to have over the next year. The Republicans in Congress and the Republican candidates for President have made their agenda very clear. They have two basic economic principles: first, tax cuts for the very wealthiest and the biggest corporations, paid for by gutting investments in education and research and infrastructure and programs like Medicare. That’s agenda item number one. Second is just about every regulation that's out there they want to get rid of -- clean air, clean water -- you name it.
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We’re going to have to have an energy policy in this country that makes sense -- because I am tired of the U.S. economy being held hostage to the spot oil market. We’ve got to develop clean energy that will not only put money back in the pocket of consumers -- but will also save our environment.
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And on student loans and school reform and on a whole host of issues that don’t get a lot of attention -- on doubling fuel efficiency standards on cars and trucks to not only free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, but also to start reducing carbon in the atmosphere and making us more competitive, to saving the auto industry -- I keep a checklist in my desk of stuff that I promised to do and we're through about 60 percent of it -- which isn’t bad for three years.
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And for decades, too many of our institutions -- from Washington to Wall Street -- failed to adapt, or they adapted in ways that didn't work for ordinary folk -- for middle-class families, for those aspiring to get into the middle class. We had an economy that was based more on consuming things and piling up debt than making things and creating value. We had a philosophy that said if we cut taxes for the very wealthiest, and we gut environmental regulations, and we don't enforce labor regulations, and somehow if we let Wall Street just write the rules, that somehow that was going to lead to prosperity. And instead what it did was culminate in the worst financial crisis and the deepest recession since the Great Depression.
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And today, even though we’ve got a hard road to travel, we can look back on the change that we’ve made over the past three years with enormous pride. Change is the first bill I signed into law that says in this country an equal day’s work gets an equal day’s pay -- because our daughters need to have the same opportunities as all of our sons get.
Change is not just pulling this economy out of the possibilities of a Great Depression and stabilizing and making sure we didn’t have a financial meltdown, but it’s also making sure that we restored the American auto industry so that it is more profitable than it’s been in a decade. And, by the way, it’s profitable making cars that are more fuel-efficient than ever before. And we’ve now doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars and trucks, which is going to take carbon out of our atmosphere and make us less dependent on foreign oil. That’s change that you produced. That’s what change looks like.
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I keep a checklist in my drawer of my campaign promises. About once a week I take it out and make a little check. And we’ve gotten about 60 percent done so far -- in three years. But I need another five to get the other 40 percent done -- so we can get comprehensive immigration reform done, and we can have a serious energy policy that finally deals with climate change in a serious way, and make sure that we continue to grow our economy in a way that's productive and makes our kids' futures bright.
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We've made enormous strides here in Colorado and all across the country in terms of clean air and clean water. So what's their solution? Let's roll back environmental protections -- basic protections. Let's not just roll back regulations. Let's roll back the entire agency responsible for making sure that companies are acting responsibly when it comes to our environment.
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We still don't have all the energy policies in place that we need to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil and adequately deal with climate change, despite the fact that we've doubled fuel economy standards on cars and made enormous progress on clean energy -- and that means that I'm going to need another term to finish the job.
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MR. CARNEY: I will simply say that polls go up and down. We live in a very challenging political environment, and more importantly, in a continuingly challenging economic environment. This President is focused on the challenging economic environment. And admittedly, in focusing on that, he has to contend with the challenging political environment.
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We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. Because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.
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The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy. And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock –- reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.
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We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives. The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven’t acted. Well, tonight, I will. I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes. And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history -– with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.
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Of course, the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy. So here’s a proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings. Their energy bills will be $100 billion lower over the next decade, and America will have less pollution, more manufacturing, more jobs for construction workers who need them. Send me a bill that creates these jobs.
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And finally, to keep America on the cutting edge of clean energy technology, I want my Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, to launch a new competition that encourages our country’s brightest scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs to discover new breakthroughs for natural gas vehicles.
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Leading on this issue is the right thing to do. Yes, it’s the right thing to do to prevent climate change. Yes, it’s the right thing to do in terms of reducing pollution. But it’s also important for our national security.
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Over the last three years, we negotiated the toughest new efficiency standards for cars and trucks in history. That will save us and consumers billions of gallons of gas and a lot of money. We’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration here in the United States. Right now, American oil production is the highest it’s been in eight years. Eight years.
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Over the last three years, we negotiated the toughest new efficiency standards for cars and trucks in history. We’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration. Right now, American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years. Eight years. Last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of last 16 years. That hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, but that’s important. We’re moving in the right direction when it comes to oil and gas production.
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Now, removing that natural gas obviously has to be done carefully. And I know that there are families that are worried about the impact this could have on our environment and on the health of our communities. And I share that concern. So that’s why I’m requiring -- for the first time ever -- that all companies drilling for gas on public lands disclose the chemicals they use. We want to make sure that this is done properly and safely. America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.
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So we’re going to keep working with the private sector to develop up to five natural gas corridors along our highways. These are highways that have natural gas fueling stations between cities, just like the one that folks at UPS, South Coast Air and Clean Energy Fuels are opening today between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. That’s a great start. So now one of these trucks can go from Long Beach all the way to Salt Lake City. And they’re going to be able to refuel along the way.
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I just came from Michigan. And there are very few states that have been harder hit by these long-term trends than Michigan. But you can feel this sense of renewed purpose and renewed hope in that state. They understand that had we not acted, a million jobs might have been lost. They understand that had we not acted, the Big Three automakers, but then, all the suppliers, the entire ecosystem of the economy in that state would have been decimated. And now, they’re thinking, GM is number one again -- and Chrysler is on the move again and Ford is investing in plants and equipment again. And you get a sense of movement, a restoration of hope and possibility.
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But people understand that the job is not done, not even close to being done yet. And they understand that if we’re going to finish the job, then we’ve got to, first of all, make sure that American manufacturing is strong. And that means that we’re out there creating a tax code that doesn’t provide tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas. We are focusing on companies that are investing right here in the United States, because we believe that when you make it in America everybody benefits, everybody does well.
They understand that we need American energy. And part of my goal on Tuesday was to dispel this notion that somehow we haven’t been on top of developing American energy -- oil and gas production up higher than they’ve been in eight years, percentage of imports lower than in the last 16. We’ve been developing and opening up millions of acres to develop.
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But what we’ve also said is oil is not enough. We’ve got to think about the future, not just look backwards at the past. We’ve got to invest in solar and wind and biofuels. We’ve already doubled our fuel efficiency standards on cars and trucks. We’ve got to make sure that we build on these successes, which are good for our economy and create jobs and, by the way, are also good for our environment. And that’s important to the American people as well.
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But -- I think young people especially understand this -- no matter how much oil we produce, we’ve only got 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. And that means we’ve got to focus on clean, renewable energy. We’ve got to have a strategy that, yes, is producing our own oil and natural gas. But we’ve also got to develop wind and solar and biofuels.
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This past Tuesday, I tried to lay out that vision, that blueprint for how we move forward, involving resuscitating American manufacturing -- the same way we've done with the auto industry, we can do that across the board. American energy -- how do we, yes, make sure that American oil production and natural gas are properly produced, but how do we also make sure that we're still investing in clean energy and looking 10, 20, 30 years down the road and making sure that we're at the forefront of the kind of clean energy economy that I think everybody is going to have to adjust to.
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The last point I'd make is, is that -- and I made this point at the State of the Union -- as I travel around the world -- and obviously we've been extraordinarily active, not only ending the war in Iraq, but managing a responsible transition in Afghanistan, helping to usher in an Arab Spring that is still uncertain in terms of its outcome -- what's striking to me is the degree to which for all of the challenges we've gone through over the last three years, the world still looks to us for leadership. They're still looking to America because for all our power, they also understand we are invested in a set of international rules and international norms and a set of universal values that historically superpowers have not paid a lot of attention to.
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Change is the decision we made to stop waiting for Congress to do something about our oil addiction and finally raise our fuel-efficiency standards. And now, by the next decade, we’ll be driving American-made cars that get almost 55 miles to the gallon, and trucks for the first time are covered. That’s what change is. Doubling fuel-efficiency standards on cars. That’s because of you. Because of you.
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An economy built to last is one where we support science, and scientists and researchers that are making the next breakthroughs in clean energy right here in the United States of America. We are a nation of inventors and tinkerers. We come up with new ideas, and we try things that the world hasn't seen before. And that has to be an area where we are thinking not just about now, but we're thinking about tomorrow and the next generation. And nowhere is that truer than when it comes to energy.
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Well, we still had to do something about energy. And although we were not able to get, at this stage, the kind of climate legislation that I think is ultimately going to be necessary, we were able, without a lot of fanfare, to initiate the most significant environmental legislation probably since the Clean Air Act by doubling fuel-efficiency standards on cars and trucks and heavy trucks, which is not only good for our environment, but good for our economy.
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We’ve got a party that denies climate change even exists rather than debates how do we best address it. We’ve got a party that, when it comes to foreign policy, seems to only talk about military adventures and never seems to talk about how can we create a diplomatic climate that allows the world to organize itself to ensure mutual security and prosperity.
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We said that we've got to start developing American energy. We've doubled clean energy since I've been President. And even as we've increased production of oil, we've recognized we've got to transition so that our kids and our grandkids are able to enjoy not only economic growth and not be dependent on what's happening in the Middle East or someplace else, but also we're able to protect the planet.
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So we’ve got a good story to tell about the last three years but I’m not done yet. I need five more years. We need five more years to reform an immigration system that doesn’t work and make sure that we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. We need five more years because we still have to implement energy policies that work for everybody. And that means continuing to push on clean energy and energy efficiency.
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Change is the decision we made to start doing something about our oil addiction -- not waiting for Congress. And so, in a historic step even without legislation, we doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars, applied them to light trucks, heavy trucks for the first time. It will save consumers billions of dollars. It will help our environment. It puts us at the forefront of the electric car industry, at the forefront of the clean-energy industry. That all happened because of you.
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An America built to last is one where we're supporting scientists and researchers trying to find the next breakthrough in clean energy, making sure that happens right here in the United States. You know, we've subsidized oil companies for a century. It's time to end a hundred years of subsidies for an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and make sure that we're doubling down on clean energy that's never been more promising -- solar power and wind power, biofuels. They can break our addiction to foreign oil, create jobs here in America. And it's good for our national security, it's good for our economy, it's good for your pocketbook.
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So a lot of work is already being done right here, just in this area. And the role of the federal government isn’t to supplant this work, take over this work, direct this research. It is to support these discoveries. Our job is to help outstanding work that’s being done in universities, in labs, and to help businesses get new energy ideas off the ground -- because it was public dollars, public research dollars, that over the years helped develop the technologies that companies are right now using to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock.
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This is for background because you guys just came in. What this facility does is teach these outstanding young engineers how to do energy assessments for manufacturers, industrial buildings across the board. And so far they have -- how many? Two hundred assessments, saving these companies up to 25 percent in their energy usage. And that's going to end up saving them millions of dollars.
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And that's why here in Seoul, we need to keep at it. And I believe we will. We’re expecting dozens of nations to announce over the next several days that they’ve fulfilled the promises they made two years ago. And we’re now expecting more commitments -- tangible, concrete action -- to secure nuclear materials and, in some cases, remove them completely. This is the serious, sustained global effort that we need, and it's an example of more nations bearing the responsibility and the costs of meeting global challenges. This is how the international community should work in the 21st century. And Korea is one of the key leaders in this process.
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As we do, let’s never forget the astonishing benefits that nuclear technology has brought to our lives. Nuclear technology helps make our food safe. It prevents disease in the developing world. It’s the high-tech medicine that treats cancer and finds new cures. And, of course, it’s the energy -- the clean energy that helps cut the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. Here in South Korea, as you know, as a leader in nuclear energy, you’ve shown the progress and prosperity that can be achieved when nations embrace peaceful nuclear energy and reject the development of nuclear arms.
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I want us to control our own destiny. I want us to forge our own future. And that’s why, as long as I’m President, America is going to pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy, which means we will continue developing our oil and gas resources in a robust and responsible way. But it also means that we’re going to keep developing more advanced homegrown biofuels, the kinds that are already powering truck fleets across America.
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We still have to have an energy policy that reflects both the short-term challenges that people are feeling, the pinch that they're feeling at the pump, but also the long-term challenges that we're facing in terms of energy independence and climate change.
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An economy built to last is one that supports scientists and researchers and science. Whether we’re talking about stem cell research or climate change, we don’t need science deniers. We need people to understand that America has always succeed because of our belief in science, our investment in research.
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And that's why we fulfilled pledges to end “don't ask, don't tell,” or to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act that ensures equal pay for equal work. That's why we followed through on commitments to invest in clean energy, and doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars -- and trucks -- in an unprecedented fashion.
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And so we probably have not seen an election where the contrast is that sharp between the two parties as in this election. Keep in mind, when I ran in 2008, we had a Republican candidate who believed in climate change -- who had worked on immigration reform, who had not ruled out the possibility that the wealthy might pay a little bit more as part of an overall package to reduce our deficit. But that's not what we have right now.
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And so not only have we been able to right the ship and get the banking system working again and make sure that the economy has an opportunity to grow, but we're also dealing with some of those underlying issues that had challenged us for a very long time -- doubling fuel efficiency standards on cars, probably the most significant piece of environmental legislation in a very long time that could end up saving us billions of dollars and taking all kinds of carbon out of the atmosphere.
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So we’ve still got huge challenges remaining and we’re going to have to figure out how to pay for everything that we do -- which brings me to why in some ways this election I think is actually more important than 2008. In 2008, I was running against a candidate who believed in climate change, believed in immigration reform, believed in the notion of reducing deficits in a balanced way. We had some profound disagreements but the Republican candidate for President understood that some of these challenges required compromise and bipartisanship.
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The recent budget that just passed the House, the budget that passed the House yesterday, if you did the math, essentially the only thing that would be left in the federal government would be defense, social security and the entitlement programs -- although those would be diminished -- interest on the national debt. That would be about it. You'd be looking at about 1 percent of the entire federal budget devoted to everything else
-- education, environmental protection, science, those things that historically have made us an economic superpower, but also a country in which everybody has a fair shot, everybody does their fair share and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.
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An economy built to last is one where we support scientists and research and science. Whether it’s stem cell research or climate change, we want to make sure that the great medical breakthroughs happen here in the United States and that happens because we finance research. We want to make sure that the next breakthroughs in clean energy happen here in the United States. That happens because we support clean energy.
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We need to make sure everybody pays their fair share. How can we continue to subsidize an oil industry that's making record profits instead of investing in things like clean energy that will help shape our future? Do we want to jack up interest rates on millions of students? Or do we want to keep investing in the things that help us in the long term -- things like education and science, and a strong military, and care for our veterans? Because we can’t have it both ways. We can't do all things on the cheap.
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Now, I think my view of private equity is that it is set up to maximize profits. And that’s a healthy part of the free market. That’s part of the role of a lot of business people. That’s not unique to private equity. And as I think my representatives have said repeatedly, and I will say today, I think there are folks who do good work in that area. And there are times where they identify the capacity for the economy to create new jobs or new industries, but understand that their priority is to maximize profits. And that’s not always going to be good for communities or businesses or workers.
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And so, if your main argument for how to grow the economy is I knew how to make a lot of money for investors, then you’re missing what this job is about. It doesn’t mean you weren’t good at private equity, but that’s not what my job is as President. My job is to take into account everybody, not just some. My job is to make sure that the country is growing not just now, but 10 years from now and 20 years from now.
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I’m running so that we can have control over our energy future. Our dependence on foreign oil is at its lowest point in 16 years. By the middle of the next decade, our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon. Thousands of Americans have jobs because of the production of renewable energies here in Colorado and all across the country. And your Governor and your mayors have been leaders in this -- your congressional delegation -- they understand now is not the time to cut these investments to pay for $4 billion a year in giveaways to the oil companies. Now is the time to end those subsidies on an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and let's invest in the future. Let's invest in energy that has rarely been more promising for our economy and our security and the safety of our planet.
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I see an American Century because we have the resilience to make it through these tough economic times. We're going to put America back to work by investing in the things that keep us competitive -- education and high-tech manufacturing, science and innovation. We'll pay down our deficits, reform our tax code and keep reducing our dependence on foreign oil. We need to get on with nation-building here at home. And I know we can, because we’re still the largest, most dynamic, most innovative economy in the world. And no matter what challenges we may face, we wouldn’t trade places with any other nation on Earth.
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And when other people in other countries see that we’re rooting for their success, it builds trust and partnerships that can advance our interests for generations. It makes it easier to meet common challenges, from preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to combating climate change. And so we seek an international order where the rights and responsibilities of all nations and peoples are upheld, and where counties thrive by meeting their obligations and they face consequences when they don’t.
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We’ve doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars. We have doubled the amount of clean energy that we’re producing. We’ve still got a long way to go to have the kind of energy strategy that we need. But we actually have seen our imports of foreign oil drop down under 50 percent, the lowest that it’s been in 15 years. And through not only the production of clean energy, but massive investments in energy efficiency, we’ve got a chance to get control of our energy future in a way that is good for our economy, good for our national security and is good for our environment and we can start tackling climate change in a serious way and lead the world on that issue.
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It’s been mentioned that we ended the war in Iraq. We’re in the process of ending the war in Afghanistan. And in the process we’re also restoring respect for this country all around the world. I had a chance to speak to 1,100 cadets who were graduating from the Air Force Academy this afternoon -- this morning. And I told them, don’t buy this whole notion that America’s influence is declining in the world -- because the truth is, as we travel everywhere, we continue to be the agenda setters. Folks continue to look to us to help shape international rules and norms that allow us to tackle things like terrorism or climate change or poverty and development. We continue to be the one indispensible nation. And because we project it with our values and our ideals, and restored a sense of rule of law, people are paying attention, people are listening and people are hungry for our leadership.
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And imagine what we could keep on doing if we weren’t spending $4 billion a year on subsidies for the oil companies, and we were investing that in clean energy, we’re investing it in energy efficiency. It is time for us to end subsidies for a mature industry that’s rarely been more profitable. Let’s double down on the clean energy future that’s never been more promising for our economy and for our security and for the safety of our planet and doing something about climate change.
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Now is not the time to cut these investments just to keep giving billions in tax giveaways to oil companies. They’ve never been more profitable. Now is the time to double down on biofuels and solar and wind, clean energy that’s never been more promising for our economy and our security and for the safety of the planet. That’s the choice in this election, Iowa.
Now, for the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat to this country. Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and by 2014, the war in Afghanistan will be over.
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Second, under my plan, we’re going to move towards a future where we control our own energy. That’s something that’s good for our economy, good for our environment, good for our national security. So we need to end government subsidies to oil companies -- they’re making a lot of money on their own. Let’s double -- on wind power and solar power, biofuels and fuel-efficient cars. I want to put in place a new standard that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for every business in America.
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Number three -- we’re going to make sure the United States of America is the best place on Earth for innovation and science and discovery. So my plan would give companies a permanent tax credit for research and development that they do here in America. We’ll double down on public research that laid the foundation for the Internet and GPS and Google, and all the companies and jobs that followed. That’s who we are. We are innovators. We create things. We don’t just buy things from other countries. We create things here in America, and build them here in America.
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But in some ways, this election is more important than 2008. In some ways, the stakes are higher. Because back in 2008, there was some overlap between Democrats and Republicans on some important issues. The nominee from the other party believed in climate change, believed in campaign finance reform, believed in immigration reform. And what we’ve seen in the face of probably the worst financial crisis and economic crisis of our lifetimes is that the Republican Party has moved in a fundamentally different direction, so that on every issue we have fundamental choices that are at stake that will determine not just how we do tomorrow or the next day, but for the next 10 years or the next 20 years.
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Well, what Mr. Romney says, first of all, is we'll cut a trillion dollars out of that portion of the federal budget that finances everything from education to Head Start, to health care to environmental protection, to consumer protection -- all the things we think of -- food safety -- you name it, a trillion dollars gets cut out of that -- which means that a lot of people suddenly will not have the protections they were counting on. A lot of folks around the country won't be getting services that we think are part of what makes America great.
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In the meantime, some lessons are being learned about how we can mitigate some of these fires in the future, and I know that the Mayor and Governor, and other local officials are already in those conversations. It means that hopefully, out of this tragedy, some long-term planning occurs, and it may be that we can curb some of the damage that happens the next time, even though you obviously can’t fully control fires that are starting up in these mountains.
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In the meantime, some lessons are being learned about how we can mitigate some of these fires in the future, and I know that the Mayor and Governor, and other local officials are already in those conversations. It means that hopefully, out of this tragedy, some long-term planning occurs, and it may be that we can curb some of the damage that happens the next time, even though you obviously can’t fully control fires that are starting up in these mountains.
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We have not found any serious economic study that says Governor Romney’s economic plan would actually create jobs -- until today. I’ve got to be honest. Today we found out there’s a new study out by non-partisan economists that says Governor Romney’s economic plan would, in fact, create 800,000 jobs. There’s only one problem: The jobs wouldn’t be in America. They would not be in America. They’d be in other countries. By eliminating taxes on corporations’ foreign income, Governor Romney’s plan would actually encourage companies to shift more of their operations to foreign tax havens, creating 800,000 jobs in those other countries.
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Q , I’m Jim O’Reilly. Ten years as an elected city official has shown me a real change in what the Republican Party has been doing to us. They’ve taken away our power to protect our natural resources -- water and air -- from the strength of the oil and gas drillers that are doing fracking here in Ohio. I support what Lisa Jackson and the EPA are doing. Is there more the administration can do to protect us from the adverse effects of drilling for natural gas? Thank you.
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Now, you always hear these arguments that somehow there’s this huge contradiction between the environment and economic development, or the environment and energy production. And the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of folks right now that are engaging in hydraulic fracking who are doing it safely. The problem is, is that we haven’t established clear guidelines for how to do it safely, and informed the public so that neighbors know what’s going on, and your family, you can make sure that any industry that’s operating in your area, that they’re being responsible.
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So what we’ve said is, look, we are going to work with industry to establish best practices. We are going to invest in the basic research and science required to make sure this is done safely and in a way that protects the public health. And for responsible companies, they should be able to operate, make a profit, and we can all benefit and put people back to work. But if you’re an irresponsible company that’s not doing the right thing, we’re going to hold you to account. And that’s how we should develop this incredible resource -- which, by the way, if we do it properly, could end up changing the economics and politics globally of energy in a way that's actually very good for us, because we'll be less dependent on what happens in the Middle East and our economy will be less subject to the kinds of spikes that we saw earlier in the spring in terms of gas prices.
Thank you for the question.
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There are no easy fixes, no quick solutions to the challenges we face, but there is no doubt in my mind that we have the capacity to meet them and we will meet them. We’ve got the best workers in the world and the best entrepreneurs in the world and the best scientists in the world and the best researchers and the best colleges and the best universities. We’re a young nation with the greatest diversity and talent and ingenuity from every corner of the globe. And Florida knows something about that. No matter what the naysayers tell us, there is not a country on Earth that would not happily trade places with the United States of America.
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My opponent’s basic vision can be described pretty simply. You take the Bush tax cuts, you add on top of it an additional $5 trillion worth of tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit folks like us that don’t need them. To the extent that there’s even an attempt to reduce the deficit, it’s done by slashing investments in education, voucherizing critical safety net programs like Medicare, reducing our investment in basic research and science. And along with stripping away regulations that we’ve put in place through the health care bill or Wall Street reform or the enforcement that we think is important to make sure that our air is clean and our water is clean, that somehow, the market is going to be unleashed and prosperity will rain down on everybody. Now, that’s their theory.
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We’ve still got an enormous amount to do on energy. There is a convergence here of environmental interests and economic interests. We’ve doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars and doubled the production of clean energy, but if we can do more, then we can continue to keep pace with the goal that I set of drastically reducing our imports of foreign oil -- and take some carbon out of the atmosphere at the same time, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs all across the country.
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Now, I still want to make sure that government does its part by being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. So we've cut a trillion dollars out of federal spending -- a trillion dollars that I've already signed into law. We've got an additional trillion that's slated. So we're prepared to make some tough choices on things we can't afford. But we're not going to reduce the deficit by gutting education investments, gutting investments that we make in our infrastructure, gutting our investments in basic science and research that can lead to discoveries in clean energy or lead to discoveries in curing cancer. That's not how we're going to grow this economy and make sure that the middle class is strong.
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We can listen to folks who want to take us backwards by doubling down on the same economic policies that got us into a fix several years ago and that we’re still fighting out of. Or we can keep moving forward to a future with more good, American jobs, more sources of homegrown, American energy, greater energy independence, and cleaner, safer environments for our kids.
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Issue Position |
Romney has supported research and development in clean energy while expressing skepticism about job growth in the green sector, criticizing the Obama administration for its investments in that industry. The former Massachusetts governor has voiced support for expanded natural gas production and increased development of nuclear energy, as well as for drilling offshore and in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
Romney has said he would only support a cap-and-trade program that applies to developing countries such as China and India, suggesting he doesn’t want to put the United States at a competitive disadvantage.
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Romney's Statements (3)
Well, I hope I get a chance to talk about the topic you began with. We'll come back to the direct attack from Speaker Gingrich in a moment, so let's go back and talk about first what you do to get the economy going. And of course we’ve spoken time and again about our tax code that's out of alignment with other nations. We’ve spoken about the fact that regulation is overwhelming us. That we need to take care of our energy resources and become energy secure. We have to open up markets and we have to crack down on China when they cheat. But I'd like to talk about something else that President Obama has been doing. He's been practicing crony capitalism. If you want to get America going again, you've got to stop the spread of crony capitalism. He gives General Motors to the UAW. He takes $500 million and sticks it into Solyndra. He stacks the labor stooges on the NLRB so they can say no to Boeing and take care of their friends in the labor movement. You go across the country with regards to energy because he has to bow to the most extreme members of the environmental movement. He turns down the Keystone Pipeline which would bring energy and jobs to America. This president is the biggest impediment to job growth in this country, and we have to replace Barack Obama to get America working again.
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I’ll do the math but let me tell you, I know we're going to get attacked from the left, from Barack Obama, on capitalism. I know people are going to say, oh, you should only practice it this way or that way and think they know better than the private market. My view is capitalism works. Free enterprise works. And I -- and I find it kind of strange on a stage like this with Republicans having to describe how private equity and venture capital work and how they're successful and how they create jobs. But let me tell you that answer. We started a number of businesses. Four in particular created 120,000 jobs. As of today. We started them years ago. They’ve grown well beyond the time I was there to 120,000 people that have been employed by those enterprises. There are other we’ve been with. Some we have been with, some of which have lost jobs. People have evaluated that – since – well, since I ran four years ago when I ran for governor. And those that have been documented to lost jobs lost about 10,000 jobs. So 120,000 less 10 means we created something over 100,000 jobs. There’s some, by the way, that were businesses we acquired that grew and became more successful like Domino's Pizza and a company called Duane Reade and others. I’m very proud of the fact that throughout my career we tried to build enterprises hopefully to try to return money to investors. There’s nothing wrong with profit, by the way. That profit -- that profit went to pension funds, to charities. It went to a wide array of institutions. A lot of people benefited from that and by the way as enterprises has become more profitable, they can hire more people. I’m someone who believes in free enterprise. I think Adam Smith was right. And I’m going to stand and defend capitalism across this country throughout this campaign. I know we're going to get it hard from President Obama but we'll stuff it down his throat and point out it is capitalism and freedom that makes America strong.
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Under President Obama, bureaucrats are insinuating themselves into every corner of our economy, undermining economic freedom. They prevent drilling rigs from going to work in the Gulf. They keep coal from being mined. They impede the reliable supply of natural gas. They tell farmers what their children can and can't do to help on the farm.
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