National Journal has posed the question: What significance does President Obama's State of the Union address have for his administration's energy and climate policy?
Among the responders are two think tankers. Center for a New American Security's Christine Parthemore reminds the Obama administration that while the economy has to be a priority, security and energy go hand-in-hand.
Concentrating entirely on jobs, however, would prove a lost opportunity to discuss the national security imperative for transitioning to a more diverse and resilient energy economy. It is true that the security of the nation rests in part on the strength of the American economy, but U.S. energy policy must also account for the destabilizing effects of growing worldwide fossil fuel demands and the stabilizing potential of diversifying energy supplies. The United States should bolster its renewable energy economy not just for the sake of leading global innovation, but so that our energy security is increasingly in our own hands. The President should use this State of the Union address to speak to the broad American public on the need to reduce the grip of energy demands on geopolitics globally, and on U.S. foreign and security policy specifically.
And Center for American Progress scholar, Daniel Weiss, says clean energy should be part of Obama's Innovation pillar.
President Obama should forcefully advocate more investments in the invention, production, and deployment of clean energy technologies. The creation of a Clean Energy Deployment Administration or “green bank” would help companies take new technologies from successful R&D to commercialization, and restoring funds to the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program would support the development of innovative low-carbon pollution technologies. The administration also should assess America’s advanced manufacturing capability and collaborate with Congress to help manufacturers become more efficient and able to produce clean energy technologies.
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