President Obama devoted 6.5 full minutes to energy in his more than 70-minute, annual “State of the Union” address this evening. Several remarks were confounding, such as stating support of the U.S. natural gas industry yet for suspending tax breaks to oil companies: With rare exception, U.S. oil companies are natural gas companies. Also, these tax breaks—or “subsidies,” which is the nomenclature used by the anti-energy—are the same breaks provided to all U.S. manufacturers.

Also, Obama credits the federal government with inventing the U.S. shale-gas industry, while it is widely known that industry veteran George Mitchell did this with private-investment risk and during more than 20 years of prodding technology to make hard rock give up abundant gas.

Here is the excerpt of Obama’s address that pertains to energy.

“…And nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration and, tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75% of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Right now, American oil production is the highest it’s been in eight years. That’s right, eight years. Not only that, last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years.

“But with only 2% of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy, a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper and full of new jobs. 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. The experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade—and I’m requesting all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.

“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. And, by the way, it was public research dollars over the course of 30 years that helped develop the technology to extract all of this gas out of shale rock, reminding us that government support is critical in helping business in getting new ideas off the ground.

“Now, what’s true for natural gas is just as true for clean energy. In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries. Because of federal investments, renewal energy use has more than doubled and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.

“When Bryan Ritterby (a lab technician with Energetx Co.) was laid off from his job making furniture, he said he worried that, at 55, no one would give him a second chance but he found work at Energetx, the wind-turbine manufacturer in Michigan. Before the recession, the factory only made luxury yachts. Today, it’s hiring workers like Bryan who say ‘I’m proud to be working in the industry of the future.’

“Our experience with shale gas—with natural gas—shows us that the payoffs from these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out. Some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. I will not walk away from workers like Bryan. I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here.

“We’ve subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable and (to) double down on a clean-energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean-energy tax credits; create these jobs.

“We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives. The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there is no reason why Congress should not, at least, create a clean-energy standard that creates a market for innovation.

“So far you haven’t acted. Well, tonight, I will. I am directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes and I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history, with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter-million homes in a year.

“Of course, the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy. So here’s a proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings. Their energy bills will be $100-billion lower over the next decade and America will have less pollution, more manufacturing and more jobs for construction workers who need it. Send me a bill that creates these jobs.”

–Nissa Darbonne, Editor-at-Large, Oil and Gas Investor, OilandGasInvestor.com, Oil and Gas Investor This Week, A&D Watch, A-Dcenter.com, UGcenter.com. Contact Nissa at ndarbonne@hartenergy.com.