President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address focused on innovation, education and infrastructure. He also mentioned eliminating oil subsidies, as well as government investment in clean energy and electric vehicles (EVs).
Here are the environmental highlights of the speech:
“The future is ours to win but we cant get there by standing still….We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world, we need to make America the best place for doing business….that is how we win the future.”
Infrastructure was a priority in the address, the President proposed “redoubling” infrastructure investments including high speed rail and high speed internet.
From an environmental point of view, the defining moment of the speech came when he said with emphasis, we will invest “especially in clean energy technology.” He then showcased a solar start-up that reinvented itself. He continued saying, “Already, we’re seeing the promise of renewable energy.”
“Now, clean energy breakthroughs will only translate into clean energy jobs if businesses know there will be a market for what they’re selling. So tonight, I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal: By 2035, 80 percent of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources,” the President said.
He also indicated that he wants to see US leadership in EVs, so that America can be, “the first country to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”
Perhaps most importantly, to help find ways of paying for the governments green investments, he wants to eliminate oil subsidies.
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