President Obama called for clean energy tax credits and a clean energy standard in his annual State of the Union address on January 24. Saying, “I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy,” the president framed the issue in terms of international competition, pledging not to “cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here.” He also announced two initiatives to advance the deployment of clean energy technologies.
“I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes,” said President Obama. “And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history—with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.”
President Obama also emphasized the need for greater energy efficiency, proposing to help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and to give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings, potentially cutting their energy bills by $100 billion over the next decade. In addition, the president referenced a number of tax incentives that would aid domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies, including an extension of the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit. See the president’s State of the Union address on the White House website, as well as the White House fact sheets on the president’s proposals for energy and manufacturing.