The warmth the President showed Giffords, who was shot in the head last year by an attempted assassin, was of course due to her recent announcement that witnessing Tuesday’s State of the Union address would be her last official act before retiring to devote more time to her rehabilitation.
But Giffords, the wife of an also newly-retired space shuttle astronaut, has always been a strong advocate of renewable energy, particularly solar power, and as the president quickly made clear from the podium as he spoke before an audience comprised of both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, and other dignitaries, energy of all kinds was very much on his mind last night.
While much of what the President had to say wasn’t new – renewables and cleantech have been at the forefront of his economic policy since he was sworn in three years ago – he did try to strike a middle ground, as if, after all of the gridlock, last year, he was still trying to offer a conciliatory hand to House Republicans.
In outlining his initiatives, President Obama called for federal lawmakers of all stripe to embrace an “all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy”.
"Don’t let other countries win the race for the future," he said. "Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries".
Warming to his message, the President declared that his administration would not "cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here".
But his energy message was far from salvo after salvo on the renewables front. He also announced that he had directed the appropriate cabinet officials to open more than 75 percent of potential offshore oil and gas resources.
As he has on other occasions, the President called on Congress to pass a clean energy standard that would require electric utilities to obtain 80 percent of their power from natural gas, nuclear and renewable sources by 2035.
"There’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven’t acted,” the President said. “Well, tonight, I will. I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes.
“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," he added.
He also called for a permanent extension of a federal production tax credit for wind power, which industry analysts says is critical to the survival of the sector.
"We’ve subsidised oil companies for a century,” he reminded those in the chamber and those watching the lengthy speech from their homes. “That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits."
The President then went on to reiterate a long-standing administration commitment to permit 10,000 MW of renewable energy projects on public land, and he lauded the Defense Department – particularly the US Navy – for its commitments to purchase 1,000 MW of renewable energy.
He also pointedly said that renewable energy deserves the same federal support fossil fuels have received, and even brought up last fall’s Solyndra controversy, vowing that while “some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail… I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.”
The President also took a swipe at China, which has lately been the focus of loud and sustained complaints that it has been dumping cheap solar panels, and, more recently, chip wind turbine towers, on the US market.
He said he would not "stand by when our competitors don’t play by the rules. We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration.”
Later the President added, “It’s not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they’re heavily subsidised."
As if to underline the intensity of his passion for the issue, President Obama announced the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trading practices in foreign countries.
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