Obama embraces natural gas, carbon reductions in re-election pitch to nation

President Barack Obama on Thursday accepted the Democratic nomination for a second term, vowing to halve foreign oil imports by 2020, embrace abundant natural gas and reduce emissions blamed for global warming.

Facing record high seasonal gas prices and Republican opposition to green energy subsidies, the president outlined to a nationally televised audience and a Democrat-packed arena in Charlotte, N.C, an energy policy starkly different from that of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. 

Obama, who has rarely spoken directly about global warming since his cap-and-trade plan failed on Capitol Hill two years ago, told the Democratic convention in Charlotte, N.C., and a national television audience that "my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our plant, because climate change is not a hoax."