By Will Nichols, Source: BusinessGreen

President Barack Obama gave hope to green businesses, telling the Democratic National Convention that “climate change is not a hoax” and promising to accelerate investment in renewable energy.

In an hour-long speech to formally accept the Democratic Party nomination for re-election, Obama drew clear lines between his economic, environmental, and energy policies and those of Republican opponent Mitt Romney, declaring America had a choice between “two fundamentally different visions for the future”.

He told delegates in Charlotte, North Carolina, that following his “all of the above” energy policy, which includes support for a host of renewable energy technologies alongside clean coal and natural gas, had cut America’s dependence on imported oil by one million barrels a day, doubled levels of renewable energy, improved vehicle fuel efficiency, and created thousands of green jobs.

Maintaining this drive would only improve the country’s energy security, he said, arguing that Governor Romney, who launched his own bid for President last week by dismissing efforts to limit environmental damage, would reverse this progress.

“You can choose the path where we control more of our own energy,” Obama said. “A future where we keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal; where farmers and scientists harness new biofuels to power our cars and trucks; where construction workers build homes and factories that waste less energy; where we develop a hundred year supply of natural gas that’s right beneath our feet. If you choose this path, we can cut our oil imports in half by 2020 and support more than 600,000 new jobs in natural gas alone.”

Obama also took aim at Romney’s Big Oil backers, promising that while he would open more land for oil and gas exploration, his administration “will not let oil companies write this country’s energy plan, or endanger our coastlines”.

And in a statement likely to delight his green supporters, Obama pledged his second term would see a renewed push to tackle climate change, in contrast to the Republicans who have argued environmental regulations are stalling business growth and costing jobs.

“Yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet – because climate change is not a hoax,” Obama said to loud applause.

“More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They’re a threat to our children’s future. And in this election, you can do something about it.”

The comments represent the President’s most emphatic commitment to tackling climate change in years and represent a stark contrast with many in the Republican Party, including Romney and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, who have in the past questioned whether manmade climate change exists.

Before Obama took to the stage, the Romney campaign was quick to point out the President was speaking exactly a year after solar panel manufacturer Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, after receiving a $535m loan guarantee from the Obama administration in 2009. Ryan Williams, a Romney spokesman, attacked Obama’s policy of “risky energy investments”, arguing that “as President, Mitt Romney won’t pick winners and losers with taxpayer money – he will advance pro-growth policies that will yield millions of new jobs, higher take-home pay, and a better future for our economy.”

However, President Obama’s energy plan has already received backing from the solar and wind industries.

Rhone Resch, president and chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), applauded the call to extend incentives that have already helped to build an industry supporting more than 100,000 American at 5,600 companies, many of which are small businesses, across all 50 states.

“Smart, stable policy has helped leverage the private sector investment and innovation that caused a roughly twenty-fold increase in the annual US deployment of solar technology since 2005,” he said.

“As costs for consumers have rapidly declined, businesses and homeowners are choosing solar because it makes economic sense. By any objective measure, the policies designed to get these types of results are clearly working.”