Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union Address to the American people before a Joint Session of Congress. The President made clear that “our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing,” and underscored the positive role that clean-burning American natural gas continues to play in strengthening our economy and our environment – all while Powering an American Renaissance. Key excerpts of his remarks – available in full here – are below:

President Obama:

Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing.

After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more natural gas than ever before – and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it.

The natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. We need to encourage that.

Commenting on the address, Marcellus Shale Coalition CEO Kathryn Klaber said:

As the President made clear, the responsible and effectively-regulated development of clean-burning American natural gas has lowered ‘nearly everyone’s energy bills’ all while safeguarding our environment and strengthening our economy. The President underscored the pressing need to get America’s economic footing reestablished, starting with sustained job creation. To that end, affordable and reliable domestic natural gas is making, and will continue to make, ‘America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing.’

And the Houston Chronicle, in an editorial today under the headline “Obama gives welcome nod to natural gas,” writes this:

The framework of an energy policy, which he outlined Tuesday evening, must begin immediately with a war-footing-style commitment to use our great new national energy patrimony – natural gas from shale – to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and boost economic growth while increasing our national security and making our air cleaner.

Here are several other quotes from the President regarding the safe development of job-creating American natural gas:

  • President Obama: We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. … The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy. (State of the Union Address, 1/25/12)
  • President Obama: Recent innovations have given us the opportunity to tap large reserves – perhaps a century’s worth of reserves, a hundred years worth of reserves -– in the shale under our feet. … The potential for natural gas is enormous. And this is an area where there’s actually been some broad bipartisan agreement. (Remarks at Georgetown University, 3/30/11)
  • President Obama: In 2011, natural gas provided 25 percent of the energy consumed in the United States. Its production creates jobs and provides economic benefits to the entire domestic production supply chain, as well as to chemical and other manufacturers, who benefit from lower feedstock and energy costs. By helping to power our transportation system, greater use of natural gas can also reduce our dependence on oil. And with appropriate safeguards, natural gas can provide a cleaner source of energy than other fossil fuels. (Executive order, 4/13/12)
  • President Obama’s Campaign: President Obama’s plan will grow America’s piece of the global clean energy market, creating well-paying jobs here at home, including more than 600,000 jobs in natural gas alone. (Plan For Jobs campaign document)