Barack Obama has renewed his commitment to getting a climate change bill through Congress.

Speaking in his first State of the Union address, the US president confirmed that reducing carbon emissions is still on the Democrats' agenda.

However, Mr Obama also went on to state that the country's energy generation would still have to come from sources which are not considered to be especially eco-friendly.

As well as investing in nuclear power, the president asserted that the US must make "tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development".

He went on to add that as well as continuing to invest in advanced biofuels, he also intends to spend money on coal power.

It has led environmental campaigners to criticise the president for pledging to increase fossil fuel production.

For instance, the Centre for Biological Diversity said while Mr Obama is right to call for more energy innovation and jobs in clean power generation, "dirty coal" should not be relied on.

It added that the US needs "the change that candidate Obama promised".