Energy policy of the Barack Obama administration

In his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama called for a goal, "By 2035, 80 percent of America's electricity will come from clean energy sources.

"[14] In January 2017, President Obama published an article arguing that private-sector incentives will help drive decoupling of emissions and economic growth.

But after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and its power plants, the $54 billion in loan guarantees the president has asked Congress to approve seem doubtful.

But Per Peterson, former Chair of the nuclear-engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley has reassured people that the fault lines lack the same danger and potential of disaster as Japan.

In 2009, CNAS and its author, Christine Parthemore "convened a group of scientists, investors, business executives, academics, nonprofit representatives, defense professionals, and federal, state, and local officials to discuss how to implement President Obama’s energy and climate security goals.