Steyer gave a speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, saying that the election was "a choice about whether to go backward or forward. And that choice is especially stark when it comes to energy". Steyer said that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would take no action to reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels; rather, he said, Romney would increase it. Steyer went on to support Obama's policies, which he described as investments to "make us energy independent and create thousands of jobs."