GLOBAL CLIMATE DEBATE

Obama Urges Both Parties to "Be Practical" on Energy

The U.S. needs both traditional and new sources of energy, says President Obama, and he wants "bipartisan agreement" in Congress "that we have to take a both/and approach rather than an either/or approach."

Speaking to reporters at an impromptu press conference at the White House Tuesday, Obama said he is convinced leading this century's global economy requires leading in "clean energy -- solar, wind, biodiesel, geothermal" technologies, and he's convinced they will progressively become more important energy sources.

But he said, U.S. economic growth requires continuing "some of the old, traditional energy sources" while new technologies are "ramping up." He said, "We can't overnight convert to an all-solar or an all-wind economy. That just can't happen."

Obama said any energy package needs to include "safe, secure nuclear power," new technologies to use coal cleanly, and "environmentally sustainable" ways to increase oil and natural gas production.

Obama, who had just met with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders to try to bridge partisan divides, said, "My hope is that my Republican friends, but also Democrats, say to themselves, let's be practical and let's do both."