US must shift cars, trucks off oil: Obama

Arguing that the country is finally poised to take control of its energy future, US President Barack Obama asked the Congress to use revenues from oil-and-gas production to wean cars and trucks from oil, breaking the cycle of gasoline price spikes once and for all.

“The only way to really break this cycle of spiking gas prices, the only way to break that cycle for good is to shift our cars and trucks entirely off oil,” Obama said yesterday in his remarks on energy after visiting the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

The US, he said, is finally poised to take control of its energy future.

“We produce more oil than we have in 15 years. We import less oil than we have in 20 years. We’ve doubled the amount of renewable energy that we generate from sources like wind and solar — with tens of thousands of good jobs to show for it,” he said, adding that the US is producing more natural gas than we ever before.

Obama said a new report issued yesterday shows the US is becoming a global leader in advanced vehicles.

“You walk into any dealership today, and you’ll see twice as many hybrids to choose from as there were five years ago.

You’ll see seven times as many cars that can go 40 miles a gallon or more. And as costs go down, sales are going up,” he said.

“Last year, General Motors sold more hybrid vehicles than ever before. Ford is selling some of the most fuel-efficient cars so quickly that dealers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand. So by investing in our energy security, we’re helping our businesses succeed and we’re creating good middle-class jobs right here in America,” he said.

Obama announced the creation of ‘Energy Security Trust’ to drive research in this area, which he said, would free families and businesses from painful spikes in gas once and for all.

“Let’s set up an Energy Security Trust that helps us free our families and our businesses from painful spikes in gas once and for all. Let’s do that. We can do it. We’ve done it before,” he said.

“In the meantime, we’ll keep moving on the all-of-the-above energy strategy that we’ve been working on for the last couple years, where we’re producing more oil and gas here at home but we’re also producing more biofuels, we’re also producing more fuel-efficient vehicles; more solar power; more wind power.

“...We’re working to make sure that here in America we’re building cars and homes and businesses that waste less energy,” Obama said.

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