English subtitles for clip: File:2012-03-03 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
Hello, everybody.

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Earlier this week, I spent some
time with the hardworking men

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and women of the
American auto industry,

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who are busy writing a new
chapter in America's story.

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Just a few years ago, their
industry was shedding hundreds

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of thousands of jobs.

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Two of the Big Three
-- GM and Chrysler --

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were on the brink of failure.

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If we had let this great
American industry collapse --

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if we had let Detroit
go bankrupt --

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more than one million Americans
would have lost their jobs in

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the middle of the worst
recession since the

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Great Depression.

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I refused to let that happen.

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These jobs are worth more
than just a paycheck --

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they're a source of pride and
a ticket to the middle class.

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These companies are worth more
than just the cars they build --

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they're a symbol of American
innovation and a source of our

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manufacturing might.

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So in exchange for help,
we demanded responsibility.

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We got the companies to
retool and restructure.

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Everyone sacrificed.

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And three years later, the
American auto industry is back.

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Today, GM is the number
one automaker in the world.

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Chrysler is growing faster
in America than any other

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car company.

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Ford is investing billions in
American plants and factories,

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and plans to bring
thousands of jobs back home.

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All told, the entire industry
has added more than 200,000 new

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jobs over the past
two and a half years.

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And they're not just
building cars again --

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they're building better cars.

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Thanks to new fuel efficiency
standards we put in place,

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they're building cars that will
average nearly 55 miles per

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gallon by the middle
of the next decade.

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That's almost double
what they get today.

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That means folks will be able to
fill up every two weeks instead

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of every week, saving the
typical family more than $8,000

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at the pump over time.

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That's a big deal, especially as
families are yet again feeling

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the pinch from
rising gas prices.

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So what's happening in Detroit
will make a difference.

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But it won't solve everything.

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There's no silver bullet for
avoiding spikes in gas prices

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every year.

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There's no shortcut to taking
control of our energy future.

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We have to pursue an
all-of-the-above strategy that

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helps develop every
source of American energy.

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And we have to do it now.

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The good news is, we've
been making progress.

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Here -- take a
look at this chart.

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Six years ago, 60% of the
oil we used was imported.

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Since I took office, America's
dependence on foreign oil has

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decreased every single year.

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In fact, in 2010, for the
first time in 13 years,

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less than half the petroleum
we consumed was imported.

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Part of that's because we're
producing more oil here at home

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than at any time in
the last eight years.

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But we can't just drill our
way out of this problem.

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While we consume 20%
of the world's oil,

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we only have 2% of the
world's oil reserves.

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We've got to develop new
technologies that will help us

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use new forms of energy.

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That's been a priority
of mine as President.

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And because of the investments
we've made, our use of clean,

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renewable energy has
nearly doubled --

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and thousands of Americans
have jobs because of it.

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Now we need to keep at it.

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And to do that, we need
to make the right choices.

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Here's one choice we
can make right now.

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Every year, $4 billion of your
tax dollars goes to subsidizing

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the oil industry.

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These are the same companies
making record profits --

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tens of billions
of dollars a year.

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I don't think oil companies
need more corporate welfare.

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Congress should end
this taxpayer giveaway.

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If you agree with me, I'm
asking you to email, call,

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or tweet your representative.

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Tell them to stop fighting
for oil companies.

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And tell them to start
fighting for working families.

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Tell them to fight for the
clean energy future that's

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within our reach.

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Because the sooner
we all get started,

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the sooner we'll
get there together.

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Thanks, and have
a great weekend.