Obama: More Drilling to Fund Clean Energy
By Meg Handley
Drill more for clean energy? It might sound counterintuitive, but that’s exactly the notion President Barack Obama floated by the nation during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Calling on America to take the reins in the global effort to advance clean energy technology, the president said his administration would “keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits” to development in the industry, the increased revenue from which would be funneled into a fund to finance research into clean energy technologies.
“The natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. We need to encourage that,” Obama said. “I propose we used some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good.”
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the ranking Republican member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, unveiled a similar proposal in her Energy 20/20 blueprint released February 4. Murkowski’s plan calls for an “Advanced Energy Trust Fund,” which would finance cleaner, climate-friendly energy technologies.
