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– in jobs that pay better than average. We are taking steps to give homeowners the freedom to generate and store their own energy – something, by the way, that environmentalists and Tea Partiers have teamed up to support. And meanwhile, we have cut our imports of foreign oil by nearly 60 per cent, and cut carbon pollution more than any other country on Earth. Now we have got to accelerate the transition away from old, dirtier energy sources. Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future – especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. We do them no favour when we do not show them where the trends are going. That is why I am going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet. And that way, we put money back into those communities, and put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a 21st century transportation system. None of this is going to happen overnight. And, yes, there are plenty of entrenched interests who want to protect the status quo. But the jobs we will create, the money we will save, the planet we will preserve – that is the kind of future our children and our grandchildren deserve. And it is within our grasp. ■This is an excerpt from President Barak Obama’s 2016 State of the Union address. To read the full text visit: www.whitehouse.gov.Pictured: Barack ObamaG7 MEMBER STATES 027Photo Credit: Official White House photo by Pete Souza