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Obama's clean energy fight gets dirty

WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama understands the need to embrace renewable energy resources as a source of economic growth, the Sierra Club said.

Obama said during an economic speech Tuesday in Tennessee green polices could provide more jobs for American workers.

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"Now is the time to double down on renewable energy and biofuels and electric vehicles, and to put money into the research that will shift our cars and trucks off oil for good," he said.

The Sierra Club said economic growth and a low-carbon future can go hand-in-hand with the right policies in place.

"If we are serious about building a healthy economy on a healthy planet, we can help achieve both by looking to the wind and solar sectors that put Americans to work while protecting our air, water, and climate," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.

In terms of natural gas, the president said the cleaner-burning fuel could be "a huge boost" to the economy provided it can be developed in an environmentally-friendly way.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, helped push the United States to a leadership position in terms of natural gas production. Critics of Obama's energy policies say his administration is enacting too many restrictive regulations on fracking.

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A weekend report from the Los Angeles Times said the Environmental Protection Agency was brushing off pollution concerns tied to fracking. The EPA said documents obtained by the newspaper were preliminary.

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