Weaning America off oil

President Obama is urging Congress to approve funding for clean-energy research to move away from vehicles reliant on oil.

Obama has proposed using revenues from federal oil and gas leases on offshore drilling to fund $2 billion (or $200 million a year) in research for “breakthrough” technologies like batteries for electric cars, biofuels made from unusual materials like switch grass and engines that make more efficient use of natural gas, according to SFGate.com.

The president’s idea of an energy-security trust is modeled after a plan submitted by Securing America’s Future Energy, a group of business executives and business leaders working to reduce the nation’s oil dependency.

Creation of such a trust would require the approval of a divided Congress; many Republicans are pushing for expanded oil and gas drilling on federal lands, while many Democrats support further development of renewable energy sources.