President Barack Obama said in his final State of the Union address on Tuesday he would push to change the way U.S. oil and coal resources are managed in order to return more money to taxpayers. As FuelFix notes, it is a signal the Obama Administration will attempt to raise the 12.5% royalty rate the government charges to drill on federal lands, which is much lower than the rate for offshore oil and gas drilling. Environmental groups have pressed the Bureau of Land Management on the issue in recent months.
Obama also touted his administration’s achievements in renewable energy, saying wind power is now cheaper than conventional power and that solar power saves Americans tens of millions of dollars per year on their energy bills and employs more people than the coal industry. Last year the president advanced his Clean Power Plan, which aims to cut carbon emissions by 32% of 2005 levels by 2030.
Obama noted that the U.S. has cut imports of foreign oil by nearly 60% during his presidency, which has largely coincided with the shale boom. Last month he signed legislation that ended the nation’s 40-year ban on crude oil exports.
Read the State of the Union address
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