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President Barack Obama championed US leadership on clean energy on Friday, as international deadlines for climate change mitigation loom and a growing number of Americans are questioning the science of global warming.

At a speech at MIT, Obama said the US faces stiff competition from other countries to develop clean technologies that will power the 21^st century (see video clip). 鈥淭he nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy 鈥� and I want America to be that nation,鈥� Obama said.

He said the $787 billion enacted in February 鈥渕akes the largest investment in clean energy in history鈥�, spurring the development of new battery technologies for hybrid vehicles and 鈥渄oubling our capacity to generate renewable electricity鈥�.

But though the stimulus sets a new US record, a report () from the bank HSBC earlier this year noted that the US鈥檚 $112 billion investment in clean energy was only half China鈥檚 $221 billion stimulus investment in greenhouse-gas-reducing technologies.

The US is also facing challenges at home. On Thursday, the reported that only 57 per cent of Americans believe there is solid scientific evidence for global warming, down from 77 per cent in 2007.

And the cap-and-trade legislation that is now making its way through the US Senate is unlikely to be voted on before the in Copenhagen, Denmark, begins on 7 December.

But that Obama may sign bilateral agreements with China, now the world鈥檚 largest greenhouse gas emitter, and India on climate change mitigation before the conference begins. He will meet with Chinese president Hu Jintao on 16 and 17 November and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh on 24 November.