By Debra DeHaney-Howard
April 11, 2011

Amid rising energy prices, especially increasing gas costs, President Barack Obama unveiled his comprehensive energy plan, Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future, a package of initiatives to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil by one-third by 2025, while putting the nation on a path to a new, clean energy future.

“The only way for America's energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil. We have to find ways to boost our efficiency so that we use less oil. We have to discover and produce cleaner, renewable sources of energy with less carbon pollution that threatens our climate,” Obama said.

Key Administration leaders joined with the President at Georgetown University in Washington (DC) for the March 31 speech before an audience that included Conference of Mayors Vice President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Conference Trustee Mesa (AZ) Mayor Scott Smith.

The plan sets forth numerous initiatives and policy actions that would expand U.S. energy supplies, deliver energy savings to consumers, promote more diverse and reliable sources of energy, create markets for clean energy technologies, establish new fuel economy standards, and invest in advanced vehicle technologies and associated infrastructure. The Administration's blueprint also calls for generating 80 percent of the nation's electricity from clean energy by 2035, sources that include wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower, nuclear power, efficient natural gas, and clean coal as well as the deployment of one million electric vehicles by 2015.

Speaking to the U.S. transportation sector and its role in fueling oil imports, Obama said, “As we replace oil with fuels like natural gas and biofuels, we can also reduce our dependence by making cars and trucks that use less oil in the first place. After all, 70 percent of our petroleum consumption goes to transportation. And so does the second biggest chunk of most families' budgets. That's why one of the best ways to make our economy less dependent on oil and save folks more money is simply to make our transportation more efficient. To make sure we stay on the road to this goal [one million electric vehicles] we need to do more – by offering more powerful incentives to consumers, and by rewarding communities that pave the way for adoption of these vehicles.”

Touting his commitments to growing transit and intercity rail systems, Obama said, “We've also made historic investments in high'speed rail and mass transit, because part of making our transportation sector cleaner and more efficient involves offering Americans – urban, suburban, and rural – the choice to be mobile without having to get in a car and pay for gas.”

“But if we continue the work that we have already begun over the last two years, we won't just spark new jobs, industries and innovations; we will leave your generation and future generations a country that is safer, healthier, and more prosperous.” Obama explained to the audience comprised largely of college students.