The President:
Hello, Buckeyes!
(applause)
Yes. It is good to be back at
The Ohio State University.
(applause)
I want to thank --
Audience Member:
I love you!
The President:
I love you back.
(applause)
I am thrilled to be here.
I want to thank a
couple of people.
First of all, the outstanding
Mayor of Columbus,
Michael Coleman, is here.
(applause)
I want to thank OSU
Provost Joe Alutto.
(applause)
And I just got this
extraordinary tour from
Giorgio Rizzoni, who's the
director of the Center for
Automotive Research.
So give him a big
round of applause.
(applause)
Now, let's face it, a
presidential visit isn't
even close to being the biggest
thing this weekend on campus.
(laughter)
And despite what Vijay said, I
did have the Buckeyes heading
to the Final Four.
(applause)
I'm just saying.
I think Selinger is going
to have a big game tonight.
(applause)
And I promise you I didn't do it
because I knew I was coming here
-- because I am cold-blooded
when it comes to filling out
my brackets.
(laughter)
So I genuinely think you
guys are looking good.
And by the way, I just read
somewhere that one in every
four teams in the
Sweet 16 is from Ohio.
(applause)
You've got Ohio State,
Ohio University, Xavier --
(applause)
-- Xavier is in -- Cincinnati.
Audience:
Booo --
The President:
I'm not going to get
in the middle of this.
(laughter)
I do want to just say no state
has ever done this before.
So it's a testimony
to Ohio basketball.
(applause)
And I want to thank Vijay for
the outstanding introduction --
very much appreciate that.
Now, this is our last stop on a
trip where we've been talking
about an all-of-the-above energy
strategy for America -- a
strategy where we produce
more oil, produce more gas,
but also produce more American
biofuels and more fuel-efficient
cars, more solar
power, more wind power,
more power from the oceans, more
clean and renewable energy.
(applause)
More clean and renewable energy.
You know what I'm
talking about here,
because this school is a
national leader in developing
new sources of energy and
advanced vehicles that use
a lot less energy.
I just had a chance to take
a tour of the Center for
Automotive Research.
Now, I admit the best part of it
was seeing the Buckeye Bullet,
which has gone over 300 miles
an hour and is now shooting for
400 miles an hour.
(applause)
And I asked the guys who were
helping to design this whether
mom was going to let them
actually test-drive this thing,
and the answer was no.
(laughter)
Only professional
drivers are permitted.
But for anybody who's
not familiar with this,
the Buckeye Bullet is
the fastest electric car
in the world.
(applause)
The fastest in the world.
I don't know who's going
to need to go that fast.
(laughter)
But it is a testament to the
ingenuity here at Ohio State and
what is essential to American
leadership when it comes to
energy -- our brain power.
I will say, though, when Malia
gets her license in a few years,
she will not be allowed
to go 300 miles an hour.
(laughter)
Now, one of the reasons that
I've been talking so much about
fuel-efficient cars and new
sources of energy is obviously
because we're seeing another
spike in gas prices right now.
And that's tough on folks.
I remember when I was a student,
filling up was always tough.
And gas prices are putting
pressure not just on students
but on a lot of families
all across Ohio,
all across the country.
Whether you're trying to
get to school, go to work,
go grocery shopping,
dropping off your kids,
you've got to be able to
fill up that gas tank.
Right now, for most people
you don't have a choice.
So when prices spike, that tax
hike feels like a -- or that gas
spike feels like a tax hike
coming right out of your pocket.
That's part of the reason that
we passed a payroll tax cut at
the beginning of this year -- so
that the average American would
get an extra $40 in every
paycheck to help offset the
price of gas.
(applause)
So that's going to
offer some relief.
But the bigger question is how
do we make sure that these
spikes in gas prices don't keep
on happening -- because we've
seen this movie before.
This happens just
about every year.
This happened this
time last year.
Gas prices were even higher in
the spring and summer of 2008.
It has been going on
for years, for decades.
And every time prices start to
go up -- especially during an
election year -- politicians,
they start dusting off their
3-point plan for $2.00 gas.
(laughter)
Although this year, they decided
it was going to be $2.50.
(laughter)
This year they decided
it was going to be $2.50.
Now, I don't know where they
pick that number, $2.50.
Because it could have
been $2.40, I guess.
They could have said $2.10.
They could have said
50 cents a gallon.
But they all make
the same promise.
They head down to the gas
station and they make sure a few
cameras are following them, and
then they tell you how we're
going to have cheap gas forever
if you just vote for them.
And it has been the same script
for 30 years -- the same thing.
It has been like a bad rerun.
And when you ask them, what
specifically is your --
(audience interruption)
Sir, I'm here to
speak to these folks.
You can hold your own rally.
(applause)
You're being rude.
(applause)
Sir, we're trying to
talk to these people.
(applause)
I'll be happy to read your book
-- if you want to give me your
book, I'll be happy to read it.
But don't interrupt my
conversation with these folks,
all right?
(applause)
Show me some courtesy.
(applause)
Show me some courtesy.
I'll be happy to take your book.
But don't interrupt
everybody else.
All right? Okay.
Now, where was I?
(laughter)
Go ahead and get that
book from him, guys.
He wants to give me a book.
Please feel free to grab it.
You're touting this book -- make
sure that you've given it to us.
All right, now that we've
gotten that settled.
(laughter)
Now, the question is, why is it
that every year we hear the same
story about how we're going
to have $2 gas, or $1.50 gas,
or whatever price
they come up with,
if we would just
drill for more oil?
That's the solution
that you always here.
Prices will immediately come
down and all our problems will
go away -- like magic.
There are two
problems with that.
First of all, we
have been drilling.
We're drilling right now.
Under my administration, America
is producing more oil today than
at any time in the last
eight years -- at any time.
(applause)
That's a fact.
Over the last three years, we've
opened millions of acres of land
in 23 different states for
oil and gas exploration.
That's a fact.
(applause)
Offshore, I've directed my
administration to open up
more than 75% of
potential oil resources.
We've quadrupled the number
of operating oil rigs to a
record high.
I just visited New Mexico.
Their big problem is they don't
have enough truck drivers to
transport all the oil
that they are producing.
We've added enough oil and gas
pipeline to circle the entire
Earth and then some.
I just visited one of those
new pipelines in Oklahoma,
and today I directed my
administration to make sure
that we cut the red tape
in terms of reducing some
of these bottlenecks.
So the problem is not
that we're not drilling,
or that we're not
producing more oil.
We are producing more oil
than any time in the last
eight years.
That's not the problem.
There are probably a few spots
where we're not drilling,
it's true.
I'm not drilling
in the South Lawn.
(laughter)
We're not drilling next to
the Washington Monument.
(laughter)
We're not drilling
in Ohio Stadium.
Audience:
No!
The President:
So there are some spots
out there that we are
not drilling.
But we're doing so in a way that
protects the health and safety
of the American people, and
protects America's incredible
bounty that God gave
us -- our resources.
(applause)
So that's point number one.
But the second issue, which,
because we got a lot of young
people, you guys understand, is
that a strategy that relies only
on drilling defies the fact
that America uses 20% of the
world's oil, but we only
have 2% of the world's
known oil reserves.
So we use 20%; we have 2%.
Who's a math major here?
(laughter)
All right.
If I'm not mistaken, that
leaves us about 18% short.
(laughter)
We can't simply drill our
way out of the problem.
Even if we drilled every square
inch of this country right now,
we're going to be relying
on other countries for oil.
(applause)
Does anybody here think
that's a good strategy?
Audience:
No!
The President:
Of course, it isn't.
We shouldn't have to pay more
at the pump every time there's
instability in the Middle East,
which is the main reason gas
prices are going up right now.
(applause)
We should not be held hostage
to events on the other side
of the world.
This is America.
We control our own destiny.
We forge our own future.
And I will not accept an
energy strategy that traps
us in the past.
(applause)
We're not going to do it.
So as long as I'm President,
America is going to be pursuing
an all-of-the-above
energy strategy.
Yes, we'll develop as much
oil and gas as we can,
in a safe way, but we're also
going to develop wind power,
and solar power, and
advanced biofuels.
(applause)
We can build the next-generation
nuclear reactors that are
smaller and safer and
cleaner and cheaper,
but we've got to also look at
renewable energy as the key to
our future.
And we've got to build cars
and trucks that get more miles
to the gallon.
(applause)
We've got to build homes and
businesses that waste less
energy, and put consumers in
control of their energy bills.
Audience Member:
(inaudible)
(laughter)
The President:
And we'll do it by
harnessing the same
type of American ingenuity and
imagination that's on display
right here at Ohio State.
(applause)
Right here at Ohio State.
So already we've made progress.
After decades of inaction, we
raised fuel-economy standards,
so that by the middle
of the next decade,
our cars will average
nearly 55 miles per gallon,
almost double what we get today.
(applause)
That means you'll be able to
fill up your car every two weeks
instead of every week.
(applause)
You like that?
Audience:
Yes!
The President:
That will save the average
family about $8,000 at the
pump over the life of a
car, which is real money.
To use even less oil, we're
going to have to keep investing
in clean, renewable,
homegrown biofuels.
And already we're using these
biofuels to power everything
from city buses to UPS
trucks, even to Navy ships.
And the more we rely on
these homegrown fuels,
the less oil we buy from other
countries and the more jobs we
create right here in America.
(applause)
We also need to keep investing
in clean energy like wind power
and solar power.
I just visited the biggest
American solar plant of its
kind, in Boulder City, Nevada.
It's powering
thousands of homes.
It put hundreds of
local people at work.
There are thousands of companies
like that all across America.
And today, thousands of
Americans have jobs because
of public investments that have
nearly doubled the use of clean
energy in this country.
And as long as I'm President,
we are going to keep on making
those investments.
I am not going to cede the wind
and solar and advanced battery
industries to countries like
China and Germany that are
making those investments.
I want those technologies
developed and manufactured
here in Ohio, here in the
Midwest, here in America.
(applause)
By American workers.
That's the future we want.
(applause)
So all these steps, all these
steps have put us on a path of
greater energy independence.
Here's a statistic I want
everybody to remember.
Since I took office, America's
dependence on foreign oil has
gone down every single year.
(applause)
In 2010, our oil dependence
was under 50% for the first
time in 13 years.
(applause)
Even as the economy was growing,
we've made progress in reducing
the amount of oil that we have
to import because we're being
smarter; we're
doing things better.
But now we've got a choice.
We can keep moving in that
direction -- we can keep
developing new energy and new
technology that uses less oil --
or we can listen to these folks
who actually believe that the
only thing we can do is drill
our way out of this problem.
In fact, they make
fun of clean energy.
They call the jobs produced
by them "phony" jobs.
They make jokes about
them at their rallies.
Lately, we've heard
a lot of politicians,
a lot of folks who are running
for a certain office --
(laughter)
-- they shall go unnamed --
(laughter)
-- they dismiss wind power.
They dismiss solar power.
They make jokes about biofuels.
I guess they like gas-guzzlers
because they're against raising
fuel standards.
Imagine if these guys had been
around when Columbus set sail.
They'd be charter members
of the Flat Earth Society.
(laughter and applause)
They don't ask what we can do;
they explain what we can't do,
and why we can't do it.
And the point is there will
always be cynics and naysayers
who just want to keep on doing
the same things the same way
that we've always done them.
Audience Member:
Then we wouldn't
have a black President,
but we do!
The President:
Well, that's true.
(applause)
They want to double down on the
same ideas that got us exactly
into this mess that we've been
in and we've been digging our
way out of.
That's not who we
are as Americans.
We've always succeeded because
we refused to stand still.
We put faith in the future.
We are inventors.
We are builders.
We're makers of things.
We're Thomas Edison and the
Wright Brothers and Steve Jobs.
By the way, the Wright
Brothers were from Ohio.
(applause)
Just want to point that out.
But that's who we are.
That's who we need
to be right now.
We can't be afraid
of the future.
(applause)
The flat Earth crowd, they've
got a different view.
They would rather give $4
billion in taxpayer subsidies
to oil companies this year
than to invest in clean energy.
Four billion dollars to an
industry that's making record
profits because of what you're
paying at the gas station.
Does anybody think
that they need help,
that they don't have enough
incentive to drill for oil?
Does anybody think that's a
wise use of your tax dollars?
Audience:
No!
The President:
We have been subsidizing
oil companies for a century.
That's long enough.
(applause)
It is time to stop a taxpayer
giveaway to an industry that's
rarely been more profitable, and
start making investments in a
clean energy industry that has
never been more promising.
And when Congress votes on
this, you guys should put
some pressure on to tell
them, do the right thing.
Bet on our future,
not on our past.
(applause)
Put them on record: They can
either stand with the oil
industry, or they can stand
with the American people.
They can place their bets
on the energy of the past,
or place their bets on America's
future -- on American workers,
American technology, American
ingenuity, American-made energy.
Audience Member:
Our children.
(applause)
The President:
Our children.
(applause)
That's the choice we face.
That's what's at
stake right now.
And, Ohio, we know the direction
that we've got to go in.
Ending these oil subsidies won't
bring gas prices down tomorrow.
Even if we drilled
every inch of America,
that won't bring gas
prices down tomorrow.
But if we're tired of watching
gas prices spike every single
year, if we're tired of being
caught in this position,
knowing that China and India are
growing -- China had 10 million
cars purchased in 2010 alone.
You've got a billion people,
two billion people out there,
who are interested in buying
cars -- which means that unless
we develop alternatives,
oil prices are going to
keep on going up.
I don't want folks in the Middle
East taking your money out of
your pocket because we did not
develop the kind of strategies
that will sustain our
future and our independence.
(applause)
So I need all of you guys
to make your voices heard.
Get on the phone.
Write and email.
Send a tweet.
Let your members of Congress
know where you stand.
Tell them to do the right thing.
Tell them that we
can win this fight.
Tell them: Yes, we can.
(applause)
We can build an
economy that lasts.
We can make this another
American Century.
We can remind the entire world
just why it is the United States
of America is the
greatest nation on Earth.
Thank you. God bless you.
God bless the United
States of America.
