Transcript: Obama Dayton Speech on Energy

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• "...we are nearing a point of no return when it comes to our global climate crisis. And with each passing day, it is clear that our addiction to fossil fuels is one of the most serious threats to our national security in the 21st century."
• "For the last eight years, this Administration has narrowly defined security as fighting an open-ended war in Iraq."
• "If Iran decided to shut down the petroleum-rich Strait of Hormuz tomorrow, they believe oil would skyrocket to $300-a-barrel in minutes, a price that one speculator predicted would result in $12-a-gallon gas. $12 a gallon."
• " The nearly $700 million a day we send to unstable or hostile nations also funds both sides of the war on terror..."
• "We are not a country that places our fate in the hands of dictators and tyrants - we are a nation that controls our own destiny....And it's why we must end the tyranny of oil in our time."
• "We've heard talk about curbing our use of fossil fuels in nearly every State of the Union address since the oil embargo 1973. Back then we imported about a third of our oil. Today we import over half."
• "So when he talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, understand that Senator McCain has been a part of that failure."
• "When it comes to offshore drilling, even Senator McCain has acknowledged that it won't provide short-term relief. In fact, if we started drilling today, we wouldn't see a drop of oil for seven years, and even then it would have little if any impact on prices."
• "Second, we'll launch a Venture Capital Fund that will provide $50 billion over five years to get the most promising clean energy technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace."
• " Third, to create a market for alternative sources of energy like solar, wind..."
• "Fourth, we'll use our clean energy fund to invest over $1 billion a year to re-tool and modernize our factories and build the advanced technology cars, trucks and SUVs of the future..."