President Obama Calls For ‘All-of-the-Above’ Energy Strategy

President Obama called for a comprehensive energy policy that would boost production of offshore oil and increase unconventional drilling for natural gas, while also building new clean energy projects on federal land and revising regulations to promote the growth of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. “This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy,” Obama said in his State of the Union address. He vowed to open more than 75 percent of potential offshore oil and gas resources to exploration and expressed support for the boom in hydraulic fracturing of shale gas, provided drilling chemicals are disclosed and water pollution rules tightened. “But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy,” the president said, announcing the development of renewable energy projects on public lands that will power 3 million homes and new clean energy initiatives at the Department of Defense. Obama also called for ending subsidies to oil and gas companies and increasing federal investment in renewable energy.