Obama on energy policy plans: ‘We look forward’
US President Barack Obama speaks to the media about sequestration in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, March 1, 2013 following a meeting with US Speaker of the House John Boehner and Congressional leaders.
US President Barack Obama made the first speech on energy policy of his second term on Friday.
He spoke from Argonne, Illinois at 2:30 p.m.
"We’re producing more natural gas than ever before – with hundreds of thousands of good jobs to show for it," said Obama. "We need to keep investing in scientific research. We need to maintain our edge."
"The only way to break this cycle of spiking gas prices for good is to shift our cars and trucks off of oil," he said. It's not just about saving money, said Obama, adding that it would also save the environment.
"This is about national security. Our reliance on oil makes us far too dependent on other parts of the world."
"We don't stand still. We look forward. We invent. We build," Obama said.
Obama was proposing funding for research that would draw $2 billion over 10 years from royalties from offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf which the government receives, according to Reuters.
A White House official said the president would tour the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, known for its research into electric car batteries.
The trust funded by the $2 billion would support research into fuel alternatives to gasoline, according to The Chicago Tribune.
During his State of the Union address in January, Obama said, "I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an energy security trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good."
The White House released this fact sheet on Obama's blue print.
While Obama spoke, the White House's official Twitter feed tweeted:
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