National Energy Action Month, 2013

Proclamation 9032 of September 30, 2013

National Energy Action Month, 2013

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

To meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must
work to ensure a clean, safe, and sustainable energy
future. This National Energy Action Month, we can build
on the progress we have made by recommitting to
increasing our energy security, strengthening our
economy, combatting climate change, and improving the
environment.

As a Nation, we are taking control of our energy
future, and my Administration remains committed to our
long-term energy security. Today, we produce more oil
than we have in 15 years and import less oil than we
have in 20 years. Since I took office, we have more
than doubled the amount of renewable electricity we
generate from wind and quintupled the amount we
generate from solar energy. We are building our first
new nuclear power plants in decades, and we produce
more natural gas than any other country. And we have
done this while creating hundreds of thousands of good
jobs and sending less carbon pollution into the
environment than we have in nearly two decades.

While we have made significant progress, more work
remains. The continuing cycle of spiking gasoline
prices hurts American families and our businesses'
bottom lines, and it reflects our economy's outsized
demand for oil. To transition to a secure energy
future, we must increase our production of clean
energy, minimize waste and maximize efficiency, further
reduce our oil imports, eliminate inefficient fossil
fuel subsidies, and continue to develop more energy
sources here at home. Because meeting global energy
challenges requires international action, we must also
engage with partners around the world to reduce carbon
pollution, and we must build global markets for new
advanced technologies. If we take these actions, we can
curb climate change, save money for consumers, and use
our resources to create good American jobs.

A clean energy economy has the potential to fuel
economic growth for decades to come. But we must invest
in the technologies of the future and fund breakthrough
research to make these technologies better and cheaper.
With the American spirit of innovation powering our
progress, our Nation can lead the world in creating
green jobs and technologies that are vital to both a
clean energy future and the fight against climate
change.

Years from now, our children may wonder if we did all
we could to leave a safe, clean, and stable world for
them to inherit. If we keep our eyes on the long arc of
our future and commit to doing what this moment
demands, the answer will be yes.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 2013 as
National Energy Action Month. I call upon the citizens
of the United States to recognize this month by working
together to achieve greater energy security, a more
robust economy, and a healthier environment for our
children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.