On February 23, President Barack Obama laid out his plans to build the future of America partly based on domestically produced energy. While speaking to an audience at the University of Miami, President Obama addressed the need for sustained strategies to develop every available source of energy in an effort to remain the leading country for future endeavors of clean energy production. He also highlighted the need to reduce American dependence on foreign oil while increasing domestic production. Domestic oil production is at its highest level in eight years and since 2011, Americans have relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years.
With the president’s proposal for a clean energy standard, the companies that provide energy will be required to produce the large percentage from clean energy sources including renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, and nuclear, among others. This energy would account for 80% of energy by the year 2035.
Since 2009, the United States has become the world’s leading producer of natural gas. This allows for the creation of 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. The president’s commitment to clean energy is a part of his change campaign that will continue to resonate through this election season. The need for alternative sources of energy is urgent as countries around the world continue to rely on fossil fuels with limited research and development on renewable sources.
During his stop in Coral Gables, the president toured the Industrial Assessment Center of UM's College of Engineering where students study to become experts in the field of industrial energy efficiency. Through this particular program, the students help manufacturing companies reduce their energy costs.
As the global demand for energy grows, renewable sources of energy will be a part of the heated debate as President Obama stated, “If anyone tells you that we can drill our way out of this problem doesn’t know what they are talking about or just isn’t telling you the truth.”
He also stated that in this election season, the campaigns will make the energy debate a partisan issue, “You know there are no quick fixes to this problem. You know we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices. If we’re going to take control of our energy future and can start avoiding these annual gas price spikes that happen every year -- when the economy starts getting better, world demand starts increasing, turmoil in the Middle East or some other parts of the world -- if we’re going to avoid being at the mercy of these world events, we’ve got to have a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy. Yes, oil and gas, but also wind and solar and nuclear and biofuels, and more.”
The United States roughly has a 100 year supply of natural gas. President Obama stressed the need to become more efficient on the use of energy sources through technological developments and achievements. The president stated, "We've got to develop new technology that helps us use less energy, and use energy smarter."
Understanding the reality of pulling collective resources together, President Obama challenged and encouraged the crowd to unite and coalesce around his drive to make the United States the leading producer of clean energy on the earth.
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