Economic recovery and clean energy jobs took center stage in President Obama’s second State of the Union Address Wednesday night before a Joint Session of Congress.

Obama said “I have never been more hopeful about America’s future than I am tonight,” putting clean energy jobs, high-speed rail, and basic research for American innovation at the core of the economic recovery.

“We can put Americans to work today building the infrastructure of tomorrow,” Obama said. “There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products.”

The President signaled that high-speed rail projects funded by the Recovery Act will help to pull America out of the recession. Obama also announced that California was to receive a funding award for high-speed rail, which had Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger singing Obama’s praises.

“Today’s announcement is fantastic news for job creation in California,” Schwarzenegger said. “By showing leadership and including high-speed rail funding in the Recovery Act, the Obama Administration is strongly supporting California’s high-speed rail project, which is the largest public works project in the nation and will create jobs, save billions of pounds of greenhouse gasses, and will be the first true high-speed rail system to break ground in the nation.”

Obama went on to say in his address, “We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities, and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient, which supports clean energy jobs.”

“Next, we need to encourage American innovation,” President Obama said. “Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no other area is more ripe for such innovation than energy.”

I believe President Obama issued a clear and unmistakable call to action in his State of the Union address, charging the Senate to pass the comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation we need to put Americans back to work and lay the foundation for a generation of prosperity, efficiency, and security.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about clean energy