0:00:00.120,0:00:03.769 President Obama: Well, listen, I just want to personally welcome 0:00:03.769,0:00:11.860 all the governors who are here today. As I said at the State of the Union last week, 0:00:11.860,0:00:15.139 I am convinced that whoever builds a clean energy economy, whoever is at the forefront 0:00:15.139,0:00:24.650 of that, is going to own the 21st century global economy. Last year, we made the largest 0:00:24.650,0:00:29.560 investment in clean energy in our history. It's an investment that's already leading 0:00:29.560,0:00:35.789 to new jobs and new businesses across the country. You've got solar panel production 0:00:35.789,0:00:42.100 in California. You got advanced batteries in North Carolina. Every state is starting 0:00:42.100,0:00:47.659 to take advantage of a lot of what's already been done. But if anybody read the story in 0:00:47.659,0:00:54.909 The New York Times last Sunday, countries like China are moving even faster. And they're 0:00:54.909,0:00:59.859 very aggressive about wanting to make sure that these clean energy jobs are in their 0:00:59.859,0:01:05.580 countries. As I said at the State of the Union, I'm not going to settle for a situation where 0:01:05.580,0:01:10.550 the United States comes in second place or third place or fourth place in what will be 0:01:10.550,0:01:21.730 the most important economic engine in the future. Now, there's no reason that we shouldn't 0:01:21.730,0:01:29.820 be able to work together in a bipartisan way to get this done. I know that there is some 0:01:29.820,0:01:37.970 concern about how energy fits together with climate change. I happen to believe that climate 0:01:37.970,0:01:41.800 change is one of the reasons why we've got to pursue a clean energy agenda, but it's 0:01:41.800,0:01:46.690 not the only reason. So even if you don't believe in the severity of climate change, 0:01:46.690,0:01:51.950 as I do, you still should want to pursue this agenda. It's good for our national security 0:01:51.950,0:01:58.690 and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. It's good for our economy because it will 0:01:58.690,0:02:05.160 produce jobs. We can't afford to spin our wheels while the rest of the world speeds 0:02:05.160,0:02:09.939 ahead. And that's why I've asked these governors -- leaders in their own right and their states 0:02:09.939,0:02:14.920 around energy issues, Democrats and Republicans -- to meet here today so that we can work 0:02:14.920,0:02:19.480 through some of these challenges and opportunities that are presented by the transition to a 0:02:19.480,0:02:24.579 clean energy economy. I want to be clear that my administration is following a non-ideological 0:02:24.579,0:02:33.269 approach to this issue. We believe in a strategy of more production, more efficiency, and more 0:02:33.269,0:02:39.209 incentives for clean energy. We're willing to make some tough decisions on issues like 0:02:39.209,0:02:46.700 offshore drilling, so long as we protect coastlines and communities. We are moving forward on 0:02:46.700,0:02:51.499 a new generation of nuclear power plants, although we want to make sure that they are 0:02:51.499,0:02:56.069 safe and secure. One of the things that we're going to be talking about today is investing 0:02:56.069,0:03:01.249 in the kind of technology that will allow us to use coal, our most bountiful natural 0:03:01.249,0:03:06.150 resource here in the United States, without polluting our planet. It's been said that 0:03:06.150,0:03:11.060 the United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal -- and that's because, as I said, it's one 0:03:11.060,0:03:16.299 of our most abundant energy resources. If we can develop the technology to capture the 0:03:16.299,0:03:21.279 carbon pollution released by coal, it can create jobs and provide energy well into the 0:03:21.279,0:03:27.639 future. So today I'm announcing a Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force that will be charged 0:03:27.639,0:03:34.049 with the goal of figuring out how we can deploy affordable clean coal technology on a widespread 0:03:34.049,0:03:40.639 scale within 10 years. And we want to get up 10 commercial demonstration projects, get 0:03:40.639,0:03:45.859 those up and running by 2016. We're also going to be talking about some developments we're 0:03:45.859,0:03:50.379 making on biofuels, so that more folks can start filling up their cars and trucks with 0:03:50.379,0:03:56.290 cleaner, American-grown fuels. By 2022, we will more than double the amount of biofuels 0:03:56.290,0:04:01.609 we produce to 36 billion gallons, which will decrease our dependence on foreign oil by 0:04:01.609,0:04:06.529 hundreds of millions of barrels per year. We're also working to make sure that we can 0:04:06.529,0:04:12.409 start turning things like plants and woodchips into heat, power, and biofuels, and that will 0:04:12.409,0:04:17.009 create new economic opportunities for rural communities. And our biofuels working group 0:04:17.009,0:04:21.780 is releasing its first report that details the government's strategy for supporting the 0:04:21.780,0:04:28.509 biofuels industry. The bottom line is this: I am convinced that America can win the race 0:04:28.509,0:04:32.360 to build a clean energy economy, but we're going to have to overcome the weight of our 0:04:32.360,0:04:39.410 own politics. We have to focus not so much on those narrow areas where we disagree, but 0:04:39.410,0:04:43.509 on the broad areas where we agree. And I also think it's important for us to understand 0:04:43.509,0:04:49.889 that in order for us to move forward with a robust energy policy, we've got to have 0:04:49.889,0:04:55.610 not an either/or philosophy but a both/and philosophy -- a philosophy that says traditional 0:04:55.610,0:04:59.740 sources of energy are going to continue to be important for a while so we've got to just 0:04:59.740,0:05:05.080 use technologies to make them cleaner and more efficient; that we're going to have to 0:05:05.080,0:05:11.690 pursue an energy-efficiency agenda across our economy. We're going to also have to develop 0:05:11.690,0:05:19.449 new sources of energy that allow us to take advantage of sun, wind, our coastlines, and 0:05:19.449,0:05:25.449 in ways that over time can actually enhance our standards of living, create jobs, and 0:05:25.449,0:05:29.740 also protect our environment. That's the agenda I want to pursue. I am confident that's the 0:05:29.740,0:05:34.970 agenda that these governors want to pursue as well. And so I'm grateful to have them 0:05:34.970,0:05:38.560 here and I'm looking forward to hearing their ideas. I should point out, obviously, that 0:05:38.560,0:05:45.699 we also have our key Cabinet members here -- Steven Chu, Tom Vilsack, Ken Salazar, 0:05:45.699,0:05:52.780 Lisa Jackson -- who are here as well, and Nancy Sutley at our Council of Environmental 0:05:52.780,0:05:56.710 Quality, and Carol Browner, who's doing a lot of our coordination in the White House, 0:05:56.710,0:06:02.569 so that we've got our top people on energy and the environment in the room to have this 0:06:02.569,0:06:07.830 discussion. Now, with that, I want to give Joe just a brief chance to speak. 0:06:07.830,0:06:10.720 Vice President Biden: Mr. President, let me just add a few points. 0:06:10.720,0:06:15.080 By the way, welcome. These poor guys, Mr. President, and women have had to listen to 0:06:15.080,0:06:19.710 me on telephone calls on the Recovery Act over the last several months. I thank you 0:06:19.710,0:06:26.650 for your cooperation. It's been -- I hope we've been responsive. Well, look, the announcement 0:06:26.650,0:06:32.879 you're making today, Mr. President, builds on an unprecedented investment that the federal 0:06:32.879,0:06:38.870 government has made, in large part through the Recovery Act, to deal with investments 0:06:38.870,0:06:45.150 in clean energy and lessen our dependence on foreign oil -- $80 billion. That has leveraged 0:06:45.150,0:06:51.330 another $70 billion, Mr. President, for a total investment of $150 billion in clean 0:06:51.330,0:06:56.169 energy. A little more than a third of that money is out the door, and it's already saved 0:06:56.169,0:07:02.189 and created somewhere in the area of over 10,000 jobs, to go to your point about it's 0:07:02.189,0:07:07.960 not just about the environment; this is a job creator. That includes more than $3 billion 0:07:07.960,0:07:13.580 in clean coal projects for West Virginia -- from West Virginia to Alabama, and $600 0:07:13.580,0:07:18.169 million in biofuels, which are on track now, Mr. President, will be placed in various states 0:07:18.169,0:07:24.280 across the country here. We're now on track to go from zero -- zero commercial-scale biofuel 0:07:24.280,0:07:31.139 refineries to 19 by the year 2012, and from no commercial-scale power plants operating 0:07:31.139,0:07:37.860 carbon capture to five by the year 2015. We're putting this economy, through these governors, 0:07:37.860,0:07:44.159 Mr. President, and putting this country on track to lead the world in clean coal technology 0:07:44.159,0:07:50.689 which we can export -- including exporting to China, which China is building coal-powered 0:07:50.689,0:07:57.319 plants at a rate of one per month -- one per month. And they need this technology to capture 0:07:57.319,0:08:01.360 their emissions. And overall, I've learned through my regular calls with all these governors, 0:08:01.360,0:08:07.210 Mr. President, the best way to make the Recovery Act work for everyone is to hear from everyone, 0:08:07.210,0:08:13.930 and they've made significant input to how we've managed the Recovery Act. Again, I want 0:08:13.930,0:08:19.379 to end my brief comment by thanking them and welcoming them here to the White House. And 0:08:19.379,0:08:24.030 I think we have a chance to -- there used to be a Lawton Chiles, he used to be a governor, 0:08:24.030,0:08:31.639 and a senator I worked with for years, and Lawton once said one day, I said, Mr. President, 0:08:31.639,0:08:34.190 I said, "Lawton, why are you so excited about that bill we passed?" And I thought I missed 0:08:34.190,0:08:36.639 the significance, it wasn't that big of a deal. He said, "Joe, it's so seldom in American 0:08:36.639,0:08:40.349 politics when conscience and convenience cross paths, you should celebrate." 0:08:40.349,0:08:40.839 (laughter) 0:08:40.839,0:08:44.060 This is a place where conscience and convenience cross paths. 0:08:44.060,0:08:48.089 President Obama: Let's get it done. Thank you very much, everybody.