Obama's clean-energy speech: Convincing?

Was Obama's new attack on America's "fossil-fuel addiction" a persuasive argument for clean energy, or just post-spill political spin?

Obama visits a solar panel plant. In the wake of the oil spill, the president is making a big push for clean energy.
(Image credit: Getty)

An embattled President Obama said Wednesday that the Gulf oil disaster makes it imperative that America kick its "fossil fuel addiction." In a speech at Pittsburg's Carnegie Mellon University, Obama urged Congress to scrap tax breaks for oil companies and dedicate the money to entrepreneurial clean-energy efforts, and promised to fight for energy legislation, opposed by most Republicans, that "finally put[s] a price on carbon pollution." Can Obama use the BP spill to remake energy policy, or is he just playing politics? (Watch a clip from Obama's energy speech)

Obama made a strong argument: Like most of Obama's speeches, this one wasn't "particularly flashy," says James Fallows in The Atlantic. But it was notable as a clear, logical, and "serious" argument for weaning the U.S. economy from its "environmentally and strategically damaging" oil addiction. "And what better time than when oil is gushing into the sea?"

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