Weekly Address
The White House
November 16, 2013
One area where we’ve made great progress is American
energy. After years of talk about reducing our dependence on foreign
oil, we are actually poised to control our own energy future.
Shortly after I took office, we invested in new American
technologies to reverse our dependence on foreign oil and double our
wind and solar power. And today, we generate more renewable energy than
ever – with tens of thousands of good, American jobs to show for it.
We produce more natural gas than anyone – and nearly everyone’s energy
bill is lower because of it. And just this week, we learned that for
the first time in nearly two decades, the United States of America now
produces more of our own oil here at home than we buy from other
countries.
That’s a big deal. That’s a tremendous step towards American energy independence.
But this is important, too: we reached this milestone in
part not only because we’re producing more energy, but because we’re
wasting less energy. We set new fuel standards for our cars and trucks
so that they’ll go twice as far on a gallon of gas by the middle of the
next decade. That’s going to save an average driver more than $8,000 at
the pump over the life of a new car. We also launched initiatives to
put people to work upgrading our homes, businesses, and factories so
that they waste less energy. That’s going to save our businesses money
on their energy bills – that's money they can use to hire more workers.
Here’s another thing. Between more clean energy, and less
wasted energy, our emissions of dangerous carbon pollution are actually
falling. That’s good news for anyone who cares about the world we
leave to our kids.
And while our carbon emissions have been dropping, our
economy has been growing. Our businesses have created 7.8 million new
jobs in the past 44 months. It proves that the old argument that we
can’t strengthen the economy and be good stewards of our planet at the
same time is a false choice. We can do both. And we have to do both.
More good jobs. Cheaper and cleaner sources of energy. A
secure energy future. Thanks to the grit and resilience of American
businesses and the American people, that’s where we’re heading. And as
long as I’m President, that’s where we’re going to keep heading – to
leave our children a stronger economy, and a safer planet.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
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