President Obama talks clean energy at Washington, DC fundraiser

On the eve of the 2012 New Hampshire Primary, President Barack attended a campaign fundraiser in the nation’s capitol, where he delivered a rousing speech touching on number of green issues.

In his speech, Obama revisited a familiar theme of his 2008 presidential campaign: change.

  

“Change is the decision we made to stop waiting for Congress to do something about our oil addiction and go ahead and finally raise fuel efficiency standards on cars,” he said. “And now, by the next decade we are going to be driving cars that get 55 miles to a gallon.  And that is going to help our environment.  That will help our economy.  That’s going to help consumers.  That’s because of you.  That’s what change is.”

He sought to define the direction his reelection campaign would take during the 2012 election.

“The debate we’re going to have in this election is about where do we go from here,” Obama said.

“We should be in a race to support the best scientists and researchers who are trying to make the next breakthrough in clean energy and medicine,” he later added.  “And those should happen right here in the United States of America.”

The President also poked fun at his Republican rivals.

“Republicans in Congress and these candidates, they think that the best way for America to compete for new jobs and businesses is to follow other countries in a race to the bottom,” he said. “They figure, well, China pays low wages, we should pay low wages. Let's roll back the minimum wage.  Let's prevent folks from organizing for collective bargaining in this country.  Since other countries allow corporations to pollute as much as they want, why not get rid of the protections that ensure our air is clean and our water is clean.”

Seeking to fire up supporters for the tough fight ahead, Obama pointed to the words of Republican presidential candidates on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

“And everything we fought for during the last election is at stake in this election,” he declared. “The very core of what this country stands for is on the line. The basic promise that no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, this is a place where you could make it if you try.  The notion that we're all in this together, that we look out for one another. That's at stake in this election.  Don't take my word for it.  Watch some of these debates that have been going on up in New Hampshire.” 

White House photo of President Barack Obama visiting a home in Cleveland, Ohio by Pete Souza. 

Barack Obama on EPA’s new mercury and air toxics standards - video

U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized the first-ever national standards to reduce mercury and other toxic air emissions – including arsenic, acid gas, and cyanide – from power plants on December 21, 2011:

Hello everybody, 

Back in 1990, the first President Bush signed history legislation requiring our nation’s biggest polluters to limit the amount of mercury and other toxic gases that they were sending into the air.

It was a bold and necessary step to strengthen public health and protect the environment that we’ll leave to our kids.

But over the years, the law was never fully implemented.

Special interest groups kept delaying the process and remarkably, for over two decades emissions standards for our power plants, which are the dominant source of toxic pollution, were never put in place.

That was wrong. Today, my administration is saying, “Enough.”

We’re announcing common sense, new cost effective standards to dramatically reduce harmful air pollution.

Because we’re acting, emissions of mercury and other pollutants, which cause a range of health problems, including neurological damage in children, will decrease significantly.

In fact, we estimate we’ll prevent thousands of premature deaths, heart attacks, and thousands of cases of asthma in children each year by 2016.

So this is a good day.

It’s a good day in the fight for cleaner air.

It’s a good day in the fight for healthier communities.

And it’s a good day in the fight to protect our environment for the generations of Americans still to come.

Thanks. 

Barack Obama on Keystone XL, Payroll Tax Cut

President Barack Obama discussed the Keystone XL pipeline with reporters after a December 7, 2011 meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Barack Obama: We did discuss the proposed Keystone Xl pipeline, which is very important to Canada.  And I think the Prime Minister and our Canadian friends understand that it's important for us to make sure that all the questions regarding the project are properly understood, especially its impact on our environment and the health and safety of the American people.  And I assured him that we will have a very rigorous process to work through that issue… 

David Jackson, USA Today: I have Keystone questions for both of you.  Mr. President, we’ve got some House Republicans who are saying they won’t approve any extension of the payroll tax cut unless you move up this oil pipeline project.  Is that a deal you would consider?  And also, how do you respond to their criticism that you punted this issue past the election for political reasons?

And, Prime Minister Harper, you seemed to suggest the other day that politics is behind the way the Keystone issue has been handled.  Do you really feel that way?

Barack Obama: First of all, any effort to try to tie Keystone to the payroll tax cut I will reject.  So everybody should be on notice.  And the reason is because the payroll tax cut is something that House Republicans, as well as Senate Republicans, should want to do regardless of any other issues.  The question is going to be, are they willing to vote against a proposal that ensures that Americans, at a time when the recovery is still fragile, don’t see their taxes go up by $1,000.  So it shouldn’t be held hostage for any other issues that they may be concerned about.

And so my warning is not just specific to Keystone.  Efforts to tie a whole bunch of other issues to something that they should be doing anyway will be rejected by me.

With respect to the politics, look, this is a big project with big consequences.  We’ve seen Democrats and Republicans express concerns about it.  And it is my job as President of the United States to make sure that a process is followed that examines all the options, looks at all the consequences before a decision is made. 

Now, that process is moving forward.  The State Department is making sure that it crosses all its t’s and dots all its i’s before making a final determination.  And I think it’s worth noting, for those who want to try to politicize this issue, that when it comes to domestic energy production, we have gone all in, because our belief is, is that we’re going to have to do a whole range of things to make sure that U.S. energy independence exists for a long time to come -- U.S. energy security exists for a long time to come. 

So we have boosted oil production.  We are boosting natural gas production.  We’re looking at a lot of traditional energy sources, even as we insist on transitioning to clean energy.  And I think this shouldn't be a Democratic or a Republican issue; this should be an American issue -- how do we make sure that we’ve got the best possible energy mix to benefit our businesses, benefit our workers, but also benefit our families to make sure that the public health and safety of the American people are looked after.  And that’s what this process is designed to do...

Reporter: Excuse me, Mr. President.  By rejecting a veto, would you veto any payroll tax cuts if it had something else on it?

Barack Obama:  I think it’s fair to say that if the payroll tax cut is attached to a whole bunch of extraneous issues not related to making sure that the American people’s taxes don't go up on January 1st, then it’s not something that I’m going to accept.  And I don't expect to have to veto it because I expect they’re going to have enough sense over on Capitol Hill to do the people’s business, and not try to load it up with a bunch of politics.

Barack Obama talks climate change, energy efficiency at Clinton Global Initiative

President Barack Obama talked about energy efficiency and climate change in a speech delivered at the Clinton Global Initiative on September 21, 2011 in New York City.

“He also is one of those Americans who believes climate change is real and deserves a real response,” former President Bill Clinton said while introducing Obama.

“It is technically difficult to figure out how we are going to deal with climate change -- not impossible, but difficult,” President Obama noted in his speech.

The President went on to discuss two ways to curb global warming pollution by saving energy and fuel:

We talk about climate change -- something that, obviously, people here are deeply concerned about.  Talking to the CEO of Southwest Airlines, they estimate that if we put in the new generation of GPS air traffic control, we would save 15 percent in fuel costs.  “Reduce fuel consumption by 15 percent, Mr. President.”  And think about what that would do, not only to potentially lower the cost of a ticket -- maybe they could start giving out peanuts again. But think what it would do in terms of taking those pollutants out of our air. 

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Earlier this year, I announced a Better Buildings Initiative to rehire construction workers to make our buildings more energy-efficient.  And I asked President Clinton and my Jobs Council to challenge private companies to join us.  In June, at CGI America, we announced a commitment to upgrade 300 million square feet of space, from military housing to college campuses.  Some of these projects are breaking ground this month, putting people to work right now.  Later this year, we’ll announce more commitments that will create jobs, while saving billions for businesses on energy bills and cutting down on our pollution.