Obama: Climate Change and Renewables Take Backseat to "Clean" Coal, Nuclear Energy and Offshore Oil!

President Obama's State of the Union Address full text: Climate Change and Renewables Take Backseat to "Clean" Coal, Nuclear Energy and Offshore Oil!

For Immediate Release
January 27, 2010
Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address

9:11 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They've done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they've done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.

It's tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable -– that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run, and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday, and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. These were the times that tested the courage of our convictions, and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements, our hesitations and our fears, America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, as one people.

Again, we are tested. And again, we must answer history's call.

One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted -– immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.

But the devastation remains. One in 10 Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. And for those who'd already known poverty, life has become that much harder.

This recession has also compounded the burdens that America's families have been dealing with for decades –- the burden of working harder and longer for less; of being unable to save enough to retire or help kids with college.

So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They're not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for President. These struggles are what I've witnessed for years in places like Elkhart, Indiana; Galesburg, Illinois. I hear about them in the letters that I read each night. The toughest to read are those written by children -– asking why they have to move from their home, asking when their mom or dad will be able to go back to work.

For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated; some are angry. They don't understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn't; or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems. They're tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. They know we can't afford it. Not now.

So we face big and difficult challenges. And what the American people hope -– what they deserve -– is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences; to overcome the numbing weight of our politics. For while the people who sent us here have different backgrounds, different stories, different beliefs, the anxieties they face are the same. The aspirations they hold are shared: a job that pays the bills; a chance to get ahead; most of all, the ability to give their children a better life.

You know what else they share? They share a stubborn resilience in the face of adversity. After one of the most difficult years in our history, they remain busy building cars and teaching kids, starting businesses and going back to school. They're coaching Little League and helping their neighbors. One woman wrote to me and said, "We are strained but hopeful, struggling but encouraged."

It's because of this spirit -– this great decency and great strength -– that I have never been more hopeful about America's future than I am tonight. (Applause.) Despite our hardships, our union is strong. We do not give up. We do not quit. We do not allow fear or division to break our spirit. In this new decade, it's time the American people get a government that matches their decency; that embodies their strength. (Applause.)
And tonight, tonight I'd like to talk about how together we can deliver on that promise.

Read full text of President Obama's State of the Union address

International Nuclear Safety Center Interactive Web Maps

Interactive maps provided by the International Nuclear Safety Center. Beginning with the world map you can drill down to continents and countries. Clicking on a nuclear facility at any level provides access to specific database information. You can also view all of the interactive maps one a single page and begin your investigation there.



Go to the INCS interactive web maps

MapCruzin Free GIS Software, Geospatial Data, Shapefiles, GPS, Topo, Satellite, Maps and Tutorials

We've been online since 1996. We provide free and open source GIS software applications, maps, geospatial data and shapefiles, tutorials and resources for students, cartographers, geographers, GIS professionals, neogeographers and neocartographers.

We also provide free satellite and aerial photography imagery and maps, Google Earth & Maps mashups, resources and tools; topographic maps, and GPS applications, data and software. Some of the main categories and recent additions are listed below. Specific items are listed in the right column of each page.

We post new additions on the MapCruzin Blog. You may want to subscribe to our feeds and occasional newsletters by entering your email address in the box at the top of the left column. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed. You can also follow us on twitter.

Thank you so much for visiting. We depend on your input to help us make this a better resource. If you have suggestions, please feel free to contact me (see contact info at bottom of each page).

MapCruzin.com for free GIS, shapefiles, maps, GPS, Topo and tutorials.

Haiti Earthquake Free Maps and Related Resources

Growing list of free and open source maps, web maps and related information and geospatial data related to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. If you have more to add please post them below. Thanks.

Access the Haiti Earthquake Free Maps and Related Resources

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States

The uninsured rate and number of uninsured for non-Hispanic Whites increased in 2008 to 10.8 percent and 21.3 million, from 10.4 percent and 20.5 million in 2007. The uninsured rate and number of uninsured for Blacks in 2008 were not statistically different from 2007, at 19.1 percent and 7.3 million.

The percentage of uninsured Hispanics decreased to 30.7 percent in 2008, from 32.1 percent in 2007. The number of uninsured Hispanics was not statistically different in 2008, at 14.6 million.

In 2008, the percentage and number of children under 18 without health insurance were 9.9 percent and 7.3 million, lower than they were in 2007 at 11.0 percent and 8.1 million. The uninsured rate and the number of uninsured for children are the lowest since 1987, the first year that comparable health insurance data were collected. Although the uninsured rate for children in poverty decreased to 15.7 percent in 2008, from 17.6 percent in 2007, children in poverty were more likely to be uninsured than all children.

View Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States and Download Data, Tables and Figures

Earthquakes with 1,000 or more deaths since 1900 Mashup

A huge earthquake rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. Thousands are feared dead. The greatest death toll from an earthquake in the last century came on July 27, 1976, in Tangshan, China. The official casualty figure is 255,000. The Dec. 26, 2004 earthquake and subsequent tsunami off the coast of Sumatra killed 227,898 in 14 countries in South Asia. Map shows those quakes that have resulted in a loss of more than 1,000 lives and Earth's tectonic plates.



Earthquake Mashup

ERDAS Releases a New Version of Titan, its Free 3D Visualization Client

ERDAS announces the release of ERDAS TITAN Client 2010, a free, downloadable 3D visualization client that includes the ERDAS TITAN Viewer and the Geospatial Instant Messenger (GeoIM). The ERDAS TITAN Viewer supports visualization of data and web services from a variety of enterprise applications and allows users to create sharable data and content mashups in a 3D globe. The GeoIM enables permission-based desktop data publishing and consumption.

The ERDAS TITAN Client seamlessly connects to ERDAS APOLLO. ERDAS APOLLO is a geospatial enterprise product equipped to fully understand, competently manage and rapidly serve large volumes of vector, raster and terrain data. ERDAS APOLLO implements an out-of-the box Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that provides a publish, find and bind workflow for any data type.

In ERDAS TITAN Client 2010, users may connect to ERDAS APOLLO catalogs via the TITAN Viewer to execute geoprocesses and visualize results in a 3D virtual globe. Descriptive metadata search results from ERDAS APOLLO catalogs are now also available in an easy-to-read display pane. Search and discovery of data in an APOLLO catalog is much faster, due to integration of REST/JSON API.

Read more and download Erdas Titan