From the State of the Union speech, two questions we should ask:
How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?
The President is challenging Congress to act how Americans expect, that they act to create a structure for tomorrow.
You see, Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse. Meanwhile, China’s not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany’s not waiting. India’s not waiting. These nations aren’t standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They are making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs.
Well I do not accept second-place for the United States of America. As hard as it may be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may be, it’s time to get serious about fixing the problems that are hampering our growth.
Core to this, core to moving forward: clean energy:
We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities, and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient, which supports clean energy jobs.
And, this is not just with things already in hand but looking toward tomorrow’s solutions:
Next, we need to encourage American innovation. Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history – an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no area is more ripe for such innovation than energy. You can see the results of last year’s investment in clean energy – in the North Carolina company that will create 1200 jobs nationwide helping to make advanced batteries; or in the California business that will put 1,000 people to work making solar panels.
Investing in clean energy is beginning, already, to pay off and this is just the start of an accelerating process of payoffs — if we keep sensible policies in place that enable that acceleration.
But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. 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.
None of this list thrills environmentalists. A true debate exists when it comes to nuclear power (low GHG vs long-held fears/concerns of risk), but driving offshore oil and natural gas as an arena of emphasis doesn’t help us move forward toward a better future. And, well, saying “clean coal” over and over again doesn’t make it clean.
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.
What is interesting is that “clean energy”, especially energy efficiency, is often the “profitable choice”, even if it isn’t the preferred or easy choice. Yes to a (stronge) comprehensive bill but we can do much even before (and without) it.
I am grateful to the House for passing such a bill last year. This year, I am eager to help advance the bipartisan effort in the Senate. I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy;
Often deceitful questions, based on falsehoods and misrepresentations.
and I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.
An understatement … in multiple ways … and far more polite than what came from an Australian prime minister.
But 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.
Look to the no-regrets strategy … if nothing else.
And America must be that nation.
And, fossil fools will help pay for this:
at a time of record deficits, we will not continue tax cuts for oil companies, investment fund managers, and those making over $250,000 a year.
- American Recovery & Reinvestment Act’s approximately $90 billion in green spending to get our economy back on track and create millions of new clean energy jobs.
- The President’s FY 2009 Budget plan that made clean energy and closing the carbon loophole a top priority, while also fully funding energy and environmental programs across the federal government.
- Declaring carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare and finally beginning the process of regulating the carbon pollution that causes global warming
- Appointing an energy and environment team composed of the best and brightest minds available, including Carol Browner (White House), Nancy Sutley (CEQ), Lisa Jackson (EPA), Steven Chu (Energy), Ken Salazar (Interior), Hilda Solis (Labor), Tom Vilsack (Agriculture) and many other overwhelmingly qualified candidates.
- Granting the California clean cars waiver and outlining plans for a strong, economically and environmentally sustainable domestic auto industry, including unprecedented investments in advanced automotive technology and electric vehicles
- Prioritizing mass transit and investing billions in high-speed rail projects across the country to help cut oil dependence
- Protecting over 2 million acres of wilderness, rivers, and parks
- Canceling the Bush administration’s last minute sale of oil and gas leases on important public lands near national parks
- Cleaning up a corrupt and scandal-plagued Department of Interior
- Scrapping the Bush administration’s disastrous and destructive oil shale plans
- Affirming that science and the rule of law will once again lead
- Putting the U.S. back at the center of international climate negotiations, with President Obama personally negotiating the Copenhagen Accord
- Putting the disastrous Bush administration offshore drilling plan on hold
- Enhancing the role of EPA in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and holding states who fail to do their part accountable
- Devoting considerable resources to a more concerted effort to restore the Great Lakes
- Making environmental justice and a more inclusive environmental movement top priorities at EPA
- Abandoning the Bush administration’s misguided mercury rule in favor of strict standards that will significantly reduce this toxic poison at power plants nationwide
- Making renewable energy priority number one at the Department of the Interior
- Halted the Bush administration’s last-minute assault on the Endangered Species Act
- Instituting major, common-sense reforms that will bring balance to the Bureau of Land Management’s onshore oil and gas leasing program
- Introducing a science-based standard for smog-forming Ozone and other air pollutants that will protect the public’s health and welfare
- Making clean energy the cornerstone of the administration’s ongoing job creation and economic recovery efforts
- Directing cooperation between agencies for optimal siting of clean energy projects
- Putting a hold on uranium mining around the Grand Canyon
- Establishing a new office dedicated to getting kids outside, the Office of Youth in Natural Resources
- Declaring that the National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to consider climate change impacts when conducting environmental reviews
- Providing more than $150 million in grants to help train lower income workers for clean energy jobs
- Proposing the first-ever one-hour standard for NOx, which will protect children, the sick, and the elderly–particularly those that live, work, or play near highways–from short-term spikes in this dangerous pollutant
- Launched a “21st century conservation dialogue” to convince Americans of the need to preserve open space and to expand land conservation to a grander scale