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We also have the chance, right now, to beat other countries in the race for the next wave
of high-tech manufacturing jobs. And my administration's launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing
in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Youngstown, Ohio, where we've connected businesses to
research universities that can help America lead the world in advanced technologies.
Tonight, I'm announcing we'll launch six more this year. Bipartisan bills in both houses
could double the number of these hubs and the jobs they create. So, get those bills
to my desk and put more Americans back to work.
Now, one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American
energy. The "all the above" energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and
today America is closer to energy independence than we have been in decades.
One of the reasons why is natural gas. If extracted safely, it's the bridge fuel that
can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change.
Businesses plan to invest almost a hundred billion dollars in new factories that use
natural gas. I'll cut red tape to help states get those factories built and put folks to
work, and this Congress can help by putting people to work building fueling stations that
shift more cars and trucks from foreign oil to American natural gas.
Meanwhile, my administration will keep working with the industry to sustain production and
jobs growth while strengthening protection of our air, our water, our communities. And
while we're at it, I'll use my authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands
for future generations.
Now, it's not just oil and natural gas production that's booming; we're becoming a global leader
in solar too.
Every four minutes another American home or business goes solar, every panel pounded into
place by a worker whose job can't be outsourced. Let's continue that progress with a smarter
tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don't
need it so we can invest more in fuels of the future that do.
And even as we've increased energy production, we've partnered with businesses, builders
and local communities to reduce the energy we consume. When we rescued our automakers,
for example, we worked with them to set higher fuel efficiency standards for our cars. In
the coming months I'll build on that success by setting new standards for our trucks so
we can keep driving down oil imports and what we pay at the pump.
And taken together, our energy policy is creating jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet.
Over the past eight years the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more
than any other nation on Earth.
But we have to act with more urgency because a changing climate is already harming western
communities struggling with drought and coastal cities dealing with floods. That's why I directed
my administration to work with states, utilities and others to set new standards on the amount
of carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air.
The shift -- the shift to a cleaner energy economy won't happen overnight, and it will
require some tough choices along the way.
But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children's children
look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world,
with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did.