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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.
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.
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.