By Olman Valverde
President Obama’s references to energy policy during Tuesday evening’s State of the Union speech indicated that he remains committed to an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy. The President offered words of support for environmentalists, climate activists, the natural gas industry and solar.
For the oil industry, however, the President called for a change to tax policy that would reduce support for fossil fuel production, that is not being well received by industry. It is also far from clear that there is political support for this proposed change.
The President acknowledged the benefits to the U.S. economy from the production of natural gas. At the same time, it was clear from his comments that climate change will continue to dominate the discussion of fossil fuel energy.
One potential positive sign for the oil industry was that President Obama did not mention or directly attack hydraulic fracturing, the key reason for the growth in domestic energy and its consequent significant benefit to the American economy. However, his reference to “if extracted safely” indicates an awareness of the concerns of environmentalists.