In President Barack Obama’s first presidential address to Congress Tuesday night he reiterated his support for putting a cap on carbon pollution, developing technologies like wind and solar power, and producing more energy efficient vehicles. Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, praises the President’s plan for lessening America’s dependence on dirty fuel sources while bolstering the economy.

“Energy efficiency has been ours for the taking and now we have the leadership and insight required to set strong efficiency standards,” said Sarah Saylor, policy expert with Earthjustice. “The economic recovery plan passed by Congress and signed by the President is a strong step toward a future free from a dependence on fuel sources hurting our pockets and our environment.”

Yet President Obama didn’t stop with the economic recovery plan, he went on to address his proposal to Congress for our nation’s budget, and stated: “To truly transform our economy, to protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.”

Although Americans make up only 5 percent of the world’s population, we consume 26 percent of the world’s energy, according to the American Almanac. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that on average, 16 million tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere every 24 hours by human use worldwide, the vast majority of which comes from dirty, old fossil-fuel-based energy sources.

Read Earthjustice’s clean energy future platform (PDF)