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Public Statements

Remarks by the President on American Energy

Location: Nashua, NH


Thank you, Mike, for that wonderful introduction and for your service to our country. I want to thank the president of Nashua Community College, Lucille Jordan, for hosting us here today. Give Lucille a big round of applause. (Applause.) We've got Professor Paul Wunderlich, who gave me a great tour. Where's Paul? Where is he? He's got a beard -- you can see him. (Laughter.) There he is. And I want to thank your Mayor, Donnalee Lozeau, for joining us here today. (Applause.) Where's Donnalee? Right over there -- there. Right in there.



AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible) 911! 911! Somebody's down!

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, we'll be all right. They probably were just standing too long. Just give them a little space. Where's our EMS folks? They'll be okay. Just give him a little space. This happens sometimes. You guys been here a while after the magging?


THE PRESIDENT: Well, no, you have to eat ahead of time. (Laughter.) Keep your blood sugar high. We got somebody over there? Jordan, right in the middle. There we go. Here's our guy. Make a little room, everybody. All right, let's make sure everybody is okay. You all right? All good? Okay. I think you're going to be all right. Okay. (Applause.) So remember, eat before you come to a presidential event. (Laughter.)


I just had a chance to look at some of the cutting-edge work that's being done here at the auto shop. Earlier this week, I gave a speech to American autoworkers where I said that one reason this country has an auto industry today is because we're not just building cars again -- (applause) -- we're building cars that use less oil, cars that go further on a gallon of gas. And in part, that's because of what's happening in places like this community college. It's because of so many of you.



THE PRESIDENT: It hasn't been a happy experience. You've see the prices go up almost every day and you've already felt the pinch, whether you own a car or maybe you own a small business that uses energy. Some of you have no choice but to drive a long way to work. And higher gas prices are like a tax straight out of your paycheck. And in the winter, the rising price of oil is also making it more expensive to heat your homes.

Now, I know this is hard to believe, but some politicians are seeing higher gas prices as a political opportunity. You're shocked, I know. (Laughter.) But it's true -- right in the middle of an election year. Who would have thought? (Laughter.) So recently, the lead in one news story said -- and I'm quoting here -- "Gasoline prices are on the rise and Republicans are licking their chops." Licking their chops. Now, let me tell you, only in politics do people respond to bad news with such enthusiasm. (Laughter.) That doesn't happen anywhere else.


Now, if there's one thing I know about New Hampshire, it's that your political bull detector is pretty keen. It's pretty sharp. (Applause.) You know that we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices. There are no quick fixes or silver bullets. If somebody tells you there are, they're not telling you the truth.






So when it comes to oil production, under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. That is a fact. That's a fact. (Applause.) Under my administration, we have a near-record number of oil rigs operating right now -- more working oil and gas rigs than the rest of the world combined. Think about that. That's a fact. (Applause.)

We've opened up millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration where appropriate and where it is done safely, and we've approved more than 400 drilling permits since we put in place new safety standards to make sure that we don't have the same kind of spill that we had down in the Gulf a couple of years ago. (Applause.)

And we've approved dozens of new pipelines to move oil around, including from Canada. Just this week, we announced that we'll do whatever we can to help speed the construction of a pipeline in Oklahoma that will relieve a bottleneck for oil that needs to get to the Gulf. And that's going to help create jobs and encourage production.

So we're focused on American oil production. We are doing all that we can in a safe, responsible way to make sure that American oil production and gas production is high. But here's the thing. The amount of oil that we drill at home doesn't set the price of gas on its own. And the reason is, is because oil is bought and sold on the world energy market. And just like last year, the biggest thing that's causing the price of oil to rise right now is instability in the Middle East. This time it's Iran. But a lot of folks are nervous about what might happen there, and so they're anticipating there might be a big disruption in terms of flow. And when uncertainty increases, speculation on Wall Street can drive up prices even more. Those are the short-term factors at work here.



So what does this mean for us? What does this mean for America? It means that anybody who tells you that we can just drill our way out of this problem does not know what they're talking about or they're not telling you the truth. (Applause.) One or the other.

Here's another way to think about it. The United States consumes more than 20 percent of the world's oil, but we only have 2 percent of the world's oil reserves -- 20 percent we use; we only produce 2 percent. And no matter what we do, it's not going to get much above 3 percent. So we're still going to have this huge shortfall. That's why if we really want energy security and energy independence, we've got to start looking at how we use less oil, and use other energy sources that we can renew and that we can control, so we are not subject to the whims of what's happening in other countries. (Applause.)

We have to keep developing new technology that helps us use less energy. We've got to keep relying on American know-how and ingenuity that comes from places like this one, Nashua Community College. That's our future. (Applause.) And that's exactly the path that we've been taking these last three years. Because of the investments we've made, the use of clean, renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled -- and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.


And after three decades of doing nothing, we put in place fuel economy standards that will make sure our cars average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade. That's nearly double what we have today. (Applause.) And that, by the way, applies not just to cars -- it applies to light trucks, and now it's going to apply to heavy trucks as well.

So that means that every time you fill up, you can think to yourself, you know what, I won't have to fill up again for two weeks instead of one week. That's worth applauding. (Applause.) Because what that means is that will save the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump. And it means that this country will reduce our oil consumption by more than 2 million barrels a day, which means we can continue to see a decline in how much imported oil we need. (Applause.) And that's good for our national security, that's good for our economy, and it's good for our environment. (Applause.)

So that's the strategy we've got to pursue. But we've got to do more, and we've got to do more even faster. We've got to keep investing in developing every available type of American-made energy. And this means that we've got to set some priorities. We've got to make some choices.




THE PRESIDENT: Four billion dollars. Now, these companies are making record profits right now -- tens of billions of dollars a year. Every time you go to the gas tank or fill up your gas tank, they're making money. Every time. Now, does anyone really think that Congress should give them another $4 billion this year?




And most of you guys agree. (Applause.) That's why you're putting your time -- that's why folks here at this community college are learning about building cars and repairing cars that use less oil -- cars that are powered with alternative fuels, like natural gas. That's why the city of Nashua is purchasing a new fleet of trash trucks that run on natural gas. (Applause.) They're going to go cleaner; they're going to last longer; they're going to be cheaper to fill up. (Applause.)

I saw one of them. It was a good-looking truck. And it put a smile on the Mayor's face, because she knows she's saving money -- she's saving taxpayer money. Good job, Mayor. (Applause.)



So this is our future. This is the ultimate solution to our energy challenge. It's not going to be a smooth, easy ride. Some of the clean-energy technologies that are discovered, they won't pan out. Some companies will fail. There's going to be experiments and research that take time. But as long as I'm President, I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy, because our future depends on it. (Applause.) I'm not going to cede the wind or the solar or the battery industry to China or Germany because some politicians in Washington refused to make the same commitment here in the United States of America. (Applause.)





And it's that history that teaches us that all of our challenges -- all of them -- are within our power, within our grasp to solve. (Applause.) This one is no different. This one is no different. It will require our brightest scientists, our most creative companies, but it's also going to require all of us -- Democrats, Republicans, everybody in between --- to do our part. That's what this moment requires.

And I know we can do it. And when we do, we'll remind the world once again just why it is that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.


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