President Obama today recommended imposing a price on carbon dioxide emissions to help U.S. companies transition to a clean-energy economy. Without specifying how the fee should be imposed, Obama vowed to work with "companies that face significant transition costs" as the nation addresses climate change.

"I want to work with organizations like this to help with those costs and get our policies right," he said in a speech to the Business Roundtable. Warning that oil prices will remain volatile into the future, Obama argued that "if we decide now that we're putting a price on this pollution in a few years, it will give businesses the certainty of knowing they have time to plan and transition."

Left unsaid in the speech was what policies the White House will support to curb U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In the past Obama has supported an economy-wide cap-and-trade program similar to the climate change legislation that was passed last year by the House. But in recent months, administration officials have backed away from the cap-and-trade approach and said only that they support a fee on carbon dioxide emissions.

The president argued that the nation "has to move towards a clean-energy economy. That's where the world is going. And that's how America will remain competitive and strong in the 21st century." Obama also repeated his State of the Union address support for nuclear power, offshore oil and gas drilling, renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency.

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