2012 State of the Union: Energy Recap

State Of The Union 2012
WhiteHouse.gov (Public Domain)

At his State of the Union address last night, President Barack Obama devoted a portion of his speech to energy.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Right now, American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years. That’s right – eight years. Not only that – last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past sixteen years.
  • We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly one hundred 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.
  • In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries. Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled. And thousands of Americans have jobs because of it … Our experience with shale gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.
  • We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.

I feel like Obama focused a little too much on energy methods that aren’t sustainable, i.e. oil and gas, and not enough time on renewable, cleaner methods like solar and wind. A lot was left out too. Couldn’t we have had more than one brief mention about climate change?

What did you think about the environmental issues in Obama’s State of the Union address?

Click here to read the full State of the Union Address.

To read Treehugger’s recap on the State of the Union, click here.

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