Three months later, the Administration is well on its way implementing the President’s plan. Already, the Administration has announced new renewable energy projects on public lands, we are taking steps to make our communities more resilient to the effects of severe weather, and we are working with our international partners to reduce emissions of powerful greenhouse gasses. At home and abroad, we are making real progress, and we have results to show for it.

Today, the EPA announced another milestone by re-proposing carbon pollution standards for new power plants. With this announcement, the EPA is taking responsible, steady steps to cut carbon pollution, protect the air we breathe, and develop affordable, American-made clean energy. For years we have had limits in place for arsenic, mercury and lead that power plants can release, and today we are taking a common-sense step to reduce the carbon pollution that is contributing to higher rates of asthma attacks and more frequent and severe floods and heat waves. The President is serious about taking on the challenge of climate change, and with today’s announcement we are proving that we can deliver on that promise.

Here are some more highlights from our progress since the President announced the Climate Action Plan.

Progress Report: President Obama’s Climate Action Plan
Taking Action for Our Kids

Less than three months ago, President Obama delivered an address at Georgetown University that underscored the moral obligation we have to leave our children a planet that’s not polluted or damaged. The President issued a Climate Action Plan for his second term that – building on the accomplishments of the first four years – advances policies to cut carbon pollution, keeping our air and water clean and protecting our kids.  

The Administration has achieved a number of Climate Action Plan implementation milestones: 

Cutting Carbon Pollution in America. In 2012, U.S. carbon pollution (CO₂) from the energy sector fell to the lowest level in nearly two decades even as the economy continued to grow. Building on this progress, the Administration has taken important steps to promote American leadership in renewable energy, improve the efficiency of the commercial and housing sectors, and support cleaner and innovative conventional energy technology. Specifically:

• The Department of the Interior (DOI) is making progress towards achieving the goal in the Climate Action Plan of permitting enough renewable energy projects on public lands by 2020 to power more than 6 million homes.
  • On June 28, DOI approved up to a 500 megawatt wind project in Arizona, which will provide enough power for 175,000 homes. The BP Wind Mohave County Wind Farm will be located on public land northwest of Kingman, AZ;  
  • On August 13, DOI approved 40 megawatts geothermal energy project in California. The Casa Diablo IV Geothermal Project will be located near the town of Mammoth Lakes on Inyo National Forest lands and could power up to 36,000 homes with clean energy, and;
  • After holding the first-ever competitive offshore wind lease sale in July off the shores of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, DOI held a second offshore wind lease sale in Virginia on September 4. Bidders competed for access to more than a quarter of a million acres offshore;

• The Climate Action Plan set a goal to reduce carbon pollution by at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030 – equal to more than half of the annual carbon pollution from the U.S. energy sector – through energy efficiency standards set over the course of the Administration for appliances and federal buildings. In August, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued three new proposed energy efficiency standards. If the three proposed rules issued in August were to be finalized as proposed, taken together with the Administration’s accomplishments to date, we would surpass 60 percent of the President’s goal for emissions reductions from energy efficiency standards. Specifically, the Administration:
  • Proposed energy efficiency standards for metal halide lamp fixtures, such as the type of lighting often seen inside big box retail stores and sports stadiums. If adopted as final, this rule could cut energy bills by up to $3 billion and result in CO2 emissions reductions of over 40 million metric tons over 30 years;
  • Proposed energy efficiency standards for commercial refrigeration equipment, such as restaurant-size fridges or the deli case at a convenience store. If adopted as final, this rule could cut energy bills by up to $4 billion and result in CO2 emissions reductions of 55 million metric tons over 30 years, and;
  • Proposed energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers, such as the milk display at the supermarket. If adopted as final, this proposed rule could cut energy bills by up to $24 billion and result in CO2 emissions reductions of 298 million metric tons over 30 years.

The potential carbon dioxide reductions from these three standards alone would be the equivalent of taking over 80 million new cars of the road for one year. The energy saved from these proposed rules would be equal to the amount of electricity used by 85 million homes in a year.

• On August 27, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working with the Army Energy Initiatives Task Force (EITF), awarded Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (MATOC) to a group of 22 qualified solar technology contractors. In addition, on September 9, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working with the EITF, awarded Multiple Award Task Order Contracts to a group of 17 qualified wind technology contractors. The MATOC represents a major step forward in the procurement of renewable energy for the Army and the other Services that will significantly reduce timelines by streamlining acquisition processes. Utilizing the MATOC in this way will assist the EITF in meeting the Army's goal for one gigawatt renewable energy by 2025;

• On July 18, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) convened the home mortgage lending community, appraisers, and other stakeholders to identify opportunities to better account for energy efficiency in the Federal Housing Administration mortgage underwriting and appraisal process, and;

• On July 2, the DOE announced a draft loan guarantee solicitation for $8 billion in support for innovative and advanced fossil energy projects and facilities that substantially reduce greenhouse gas – such as carbon capture and low-carbon power systems.

Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change. Even as we take new steps to cut carbon pollution, we must also prepare for the impacts of a changing climate that are already being felt across the country. Since the President’s address, the Administration has released the Hurricane Sandy Task Force Rebuilding Strategy, which will help guide investments to protect families, small businesses, and communities across the affected region from the risks posed by sea level rise and more extreme weather events. We have also launched a competition through the DOI for projects that build resilience through the use of natural systems, announced public-private and intergovernmental partnerships to bolster extreme weather response and increase climate resilience, released reports identifying vulnerabilities to climate change in the energy sector, and recognized local leaders who are helping their communities prepare for the impacts of climate change. Specifically:

• On August 19, the Hurricane Sandy Task Force issued its Rebuilding Strategy, which will help guide the investment of rebuilding funds and assist communities across the nation to prepare for the increasing risks caused by climate change and extreme weather;

• On August 12, DOI launched a $100 million Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program.  The competition will fund projects that promote resilient natural systems while enhancing green spaces and wildlife habitat along the Sandy-impacted landscape, helping coastal communities and key habitats to withstand the impacts of future storms;

• On August 26, the DOE announced a partnership with the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJTC) to explore the design, construction, and implementation of an advanced microgrid system that would make NJTC more resilient in the face of extreme weather;  

• On July 19, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and DOI announced a Federal, local and private partnership to protect America’s water supply from the risks of wildfire. The Western Watershed Enhancement Partnership is a comprehensive approach to identify and mitigate risks of wildfire to parts of our nation's water supply, irrigation, and hydroelectric facilities;

• On August 12, DOE and the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) released a report on electric grid resilience (Economic Benefits of Increasing Electric Grid Resilience), which evaluated the current capacity of the grid to maintain power during natural disasters, analyzed the economic impacts of grid failure, and provided recommendations on how to better protect the grid. The report reinforced the findings of a DOE publication, released July 10, which assessed the vulnerability of America’s critical energy and electricity infrastructure to the impacts of climate change (U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather), and;

• On July 9, the White House hosted an event honoring eleven “Champions of Change” who are working on the front lines to protect public health in a changing climate. These Champions are raising awareness about the health consequences of climate change and helping their communities prepare for climate-related health impacts.

Leading International Efforts to Address Global Climate Change. Just as no country is immune from the impacts of climate change, no country can meet this challenge alone. That is why, over the past three months, the Administration has led multilateral and bilateral efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, advanced international climate negotiations, and pushed for new action to promote energy efficiency in buildings. Specifically:

• On September 6, G-20 leaders (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union), as well as Ethiopia, Spain, Senegal, Brunei, Kazakhstan, and Singapore expressed support for  using the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a highly potent greenhouse gas;

• In addition, building on their breakthrough June 8 agreement on HFCs in Sunnylands, President Obama and China’s President Xi agreed as a next step to establish a contact group under the Montreal Protocol. A global phase down of HFCs could potentially reduce roughly two years’ worth of current global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;

• At the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in July, new joint efforts were launched to reduce greenhouse gas pollution through improved heavy-duty vehicle performance; smart grids; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; collecting and managing greenhouse gas data; and energy efficiency in buildings and industry, and;

• In June, at the US-India Strategic Dialogue, a range of new joint initiatives were announced, including a new U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) loan guarantee to mobilize at least $100 million for clean energy investments, new collaboration on smart and efficient space cooling, and a new climate change working group to intensify bilateral cooperation.

In President Obama’s first term, the Energy Department established new minimum efficiency standards for dishwashers, refrigerators, and many other products. Through 2030, these standards will cut consumers’ electricity bills by hundreds of billions of dollars and save enough electricity to power more than 85 million homes for two years.

To build on this success, the President set a new goal in his Climate Action Plan: Efficiency standards for appliances and federal buildings set in the first and second terms combined will reduce carbon pollution by at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030 – equivalent to nearly one-half of the carbon pollution from the entire U.S. energy sector for one year – while continuing to cut families’ energy bills.

Today, the Energy Department is taking steps towards achieving this new goal by issuing two proposed rules that could cut energy bills by up to $28 billion and cut emissions by over 350 million metric tons of CO2 over 30 years. This reduction in CO2 emissions would be the equivalent of taking nearly 109 million new cars of the road for one year. Or put another way, the energy saved from these proposed rules would be equal to the amount of electricity used by 50 million homes in a year.

One of these proposed rules would improve energy efficiency standards for commercial refrigeration equipment, such as restaurant-size fridges or the deli case at a convenience store. This proposed rule could, if adopted as final, cut energy bills by up to $4 billion and result in CO2 emissions reductions of 55 million metric tons over 30 years. In addition, the Energy Department is proposing a rule that would improve energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers, such as the milk display at the supermarket. If adopted as final, this proposed rule could cut energy bills by up to $24 billion and result in CO2 emissions reductions of 298 million metric tons over 30 years.

These rules will build on recent progress.  For example, earlier this month, the Energy Department issued a proposed rule that would revise energy efficiency standards for metal halide lamp fixtures, such as the type of lighting often seen inside big box retail stores and sports stadiums. Taken together, the standards issued during the Administration’s first and second terms so far cut emissions by 1.8 billion tons through 2030. If the three proposed rules issued this month were to be finalized as proposed, taken together with the Administration’s accomplishments to date, we would surpass 60 percent of the President’s goal for emissions reductions from efficiency standards.

Energy efficiency creates jobs, saves money, and cuts down on harmful pollution. And that is why we are taking a comprehensive approach, including measures like historic fuel economy standards for cars and trucks that will nearly double the miles you can go on a gallon and investments that have led to more than a million homes weatherized across the country. These critical steps bolster the energy productivity of our economy, cut energy costs for American families and businesses, and leave a healthier planet for future generations.

Learn more:

• President Obama's Climate Action Plan
• Obama Administration finalizes historic 54.5 MPG fuel efficiency standards

It’s a plan that starts with responsibility. While no single step can reverse the effects of climate change, President Obama believes we have a moral obligation to future generations to do what we can.  After all, this is no longer a distant threat – we are already feeling the impacts now.

The 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15 years. Asthma rates have doubled in the past 30 years and our children will suffer more asthma attacks as air pollution gets worse. And increasing floods, heat waves, and droughts have taken a toll on our nation’s farmers, which is raising food prices. These changes come with far-reaching consequences and real economic costs. Last year alone, there were more than 11 different weather and climate disaster events with estimated losses exceeding $1 billion each across the United States.

During President Obama’s first term, we took a number of important steps to reduce carbon pollution and spark innovation in cleaner forms of energy. For example, we doubled our use of renewable electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal sources and set the toughest fuel efficiency standards in American history. Thanks in part to these actions, in 2012, U.S. carbon pollution from the energy sector fell to the lowest level in nearly 20 years. To build on this progress, the President’s Climate Action Plan has three pillars: cut carbon pollution in America; prepare the United States for climate impacts; and lead international efforts to combat global climate change.

Now, we’re already seeing many Republicans and some of the nation’s biggest polluters attack the President’s plan. And they’re recycling the same tired and empty arguments that we’ve heard time and time again. To separate fact from fiction, let’s dig a little deeper and compare their rhetoric with the reality.

Claim #1:

Reducing carbon pollution will hurt the economy and cost jobs.

FACT:

Over the last four decades, we have reduced common pollutants by more than half and have doubled economic output.

Our own history shows us that we can protect our environment, reduce harmful pollution, and promote economic growth all at the same time. And the numbers speak for themselves: between 1970 and 2011, aggregate emissions of common air pollutants dropped 68 percent, while the U.S. gross domestic product grew 212 percent. Private sector jobs increased by 88 percent during the same period.

What’s even worse about this claim is that it suggests a lack of faith in American businesses to innovate. When we banned cancer-causing chemicals in our toys, and leaded fuel in our cars, it didn’t end the plastics industry or the oil industry; American chemists came up with better, cheaper substitutes.  When we phased out chlorofluorocarbons – the gases that depleted the ozone layer – it didn’t kill off refrigerators and air conditioners; American workers built better ones.

The bottom line is that we don’t have to choose between the health of our children and the health of our economy. Those goals go hand in hand. And by taking action to reduce carbon pollution, we can spark new jobs and industries building cleaner and more efficient American-made energy technologies.

Claim #2:

Regulating carbon pollution will increase energy bills for consumers.

FACT:

Utility industry leaders say they can reduce carbon pollution without raising bills.

We know how to use the tools of the Clean Air Act in a way that reduces pollution and protects American families and businesses.

For example, when the President announced historic fuel economy standards, the critics said cars would get smaller, more expensive for consumers, and hurt sales. They were wrong. Today, car sales are at multi-year highs, people are already saving money at the pump thanks to greater efficiency, and we’ve preserved consumer choice. In March, EPA released a new report which showed that, compared to just five years ago , Americans have twice as many hybrid and diesel vehicle choices, a growing set of plug-in electric vehicles, and six times as many vehicle choices with fuel economy of 30 mpg or higher.

When it comes to the power sector, the utility industry itself admits that they can reduce carbon pollution without raising bills. Moreover, to protect consumers, the President directed the EPA to develop standards in an open and transparent way, provide flexibility to different states with different needs, and build on the leadership that many states, cities, and companies have already shown.  And that’s exactly what they’ll do. Separately, the Administration will also continue efforts to make household appliances more efficient, savings consumers hundreds of billions on utility bills through 2030.

At the same time, renewable energy has never been more affordable. It’s not only creating good jobs across the country, it’s providing clean, safe, and secure power to millions. And as costs continued to fall, both the wind and solar industries had their best year ever in America in 2012. Today, nine states get more than 10 percent of their electricity from wind and two of those – Iowa and South Dakota – get more than 20 percent. These trends just wouldn’t be happening if clean energy weren’t competitive and cost-effective for consumers.

Claim #3:

The Administration is waging a war on coal.

FACT:

President Obama has invested more in clean coal technology than any other Administration in history.

The President believes that America must take a leadership role in developing and manufacturing technologies that allow us to burn coal more cleanly and efficiently. Achieving that goal will also boost our economy, promote public health, and position the United States as the leader in the global clean energy race. That’s why President Obama has invested nearly $6 billion in clean coal technology and research and development – the largest such investment in U.S. history. And as part of the President’s Climate Action plan, he announced yesterday that the Administration will make up to $8 billion in loan guarantee authority available for a wide array of advanced fossil energy and efficiency projects to support investments in innovative technologies.

Cutting carbon pollution will help modernize our coal power plants. It will help spark innovation to create new clean energy technologies and it will put Americans to work with good jobs that can’t be shipped overseas making our power plants more efficient, which will save families money.

For more information on President Obama's Climate Action Plan:

• See the infographic
• Read the fact sheet
• Watch the speech
• Get state-by-state reports about the effects of pollution and climate change

Consider this: the average household in the United States spends more than $2,000 each year on energy bills, with appliances accounting for a significant percentage of that total. To illustrate this point, the chart below shows how much energy a typical appliance uses per year and its corresponding cost.

Source: Energy Department

Part of how we will achieve that goal is by making appliances more energy efficient. Not only will that help Americans keep more money in their pockets, it will also curb pollution and spark innovation that creates jobs and ultimately brings better products to the marketplace.

That’s why we are proud to announce today that the Department of Energy has finalized new energy efficiency standards for microwaves, which will save consumers billions on their energy bills over the coming decades and prevent 38 million metric tons of carbon emissions – the equivalent of taking 12 million new cars off the road for one year. These standards will go into effect starting in 2016.

Notably, the underlying analysis of these standards includes an update to the social cost of carbon values, which draw on the best available science to calculate the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as discussed in this year’s Economic Report of the President. The total net benefits of the new microwave standards, including the updated social cost of carbon, are up to $4.6 billion.

Of course, this is just our latest step forward. During the President’s first term, by partnering with manufacturers and forging bipartisan support, the Administration established new appliance standards for nearly 40 different products. Taken together, they will save consumers close to $400 billion and reduce carbon emissions by 1.7 billion metric tons by 2030.

Moving forward, we intend to build on this strong record of success. By advancing energy efficiency – in our homes, our businesses, and the transportation sector – we make real progress in promoting energy security and addressing global climate change.

To learn more about choosing energy efficiency appliances for your home, click here. 

At DOD’s fixed installations alone – including, barracks, offices, and hospitals – energy bills come in around $4 billion each year. Given this large footprint as well as the importance of safe, secure, and affordable energy sources to mission readiness, the Department has made one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history, by developing a goal to deploy three gigawatts of renewable energy – including solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal – on Army, Navy, and Air Force installations by 2025 – enough to power 750,000 homes.

When it comes specifically to solar power, a new report today from the Solar Energy Industries Association underscores the progress that DOD is making towards its goals.

“Enlisting the Sun: Powering the U.S. Military with Solar Energy” highlights solar energy’s growing role in powering military installations and military homes across America. According to the report, as of early 2013, there are more than 130 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems powering Navy, Army, and Air Force bases in at least 31 states and the District of Columbia. Combined, these installations provide enough clean energy to power more than 20,000 American homes.

Beyond the direct benefits to our military, DOD’s investments in clean energy benefit the country as a whole, by catalyzing private sector investment to more quickly commercialize advanced technologies for a variety of commercial applications.

In his first term, President Obama made the largest investment in clean energy in our history, which enabled the United States to double its use of renewable energy from wind, solar, and geothermal sources, and create tens of thousands of jobs across the country. During the same period, the cost of solar modules has fallen by more than 400%, helping the solar industry achieve its best year in the United States in 2012.

Moving forward, as the military continues to adopt clean energy technologies and lead by example, President Obama believes the United States as a whole must do the same. In fact, by supporting proven clean energy tax incentives and funding basic research and development, we can double renewable generation from wind, solar, and geothermal again by the end of the decade. These policies will help advance our energy security, respond to the threat of climate change, and compete for the jobs of the 21^st century.

Today, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has released its Fourth Quarter Market Report for 2012, which highlights a number of exciting milestones.

The American wind industry had its best year ever in 2012, with more than 13,000 MW installed. In the fourth quarter alone, more than 8,000 MW were deployed – an all-time record for the industry and twice as much wind as the previous record set in the fourth quarter 2009.

Thanks to this growth, the wind industry was able to achieve another milestone in 2012: achieving 60 GW of cumulative wind capacity in the United States. To put it another way, the United States today has more than 45,000 wind turbines that provide enough electricity to power 14.7 million homes – roughly equivalent to the number of homes in Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio combined.

To underscore how quickly wind power is taking root in America, consider this: it took 25 years to reach 10 GW, which occurred in 2006. But it only took four years to grow from 20 GW (2008) to 60GW (2012). And last year – for the first time ever – wind power provided the largest share of new electric capacity (42%) in the United States. Of course, more wind also means less carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. With 60 GW installed, it’s like taking 17.5 million cars off the road.

All of this progress builds on the encouraging trends in renewable energy over the past few years. Since 2008, the U.S. has doubled renewable generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources, and America is now home to some of the largest wind and solar farms in the world. Wind power currently contributes more than 10% of total electricity generation in six states, with two of these states above 20%. And nearly seventy percent of the equipment installed at U.S. wind farms last year – including wind turbines and components like towers, blades, gears, and generators – was made here in the United States, up from just 35 percent in 2005.

This is what we can achieve when we commit ourselves to smart and effective policies that promote clean energy technologies, create jobs, and grow our economy. That’s why, in addition to making the largest investments in clean energy in American history, President Obama fought for – and secured – an extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC). If the PTC had expired at the end of last year, it would have landed a punishing blow to the domestic wind industry resulting in layoffs for tens of thousands of American workers.

But the President refused to let that happen. So instead of layoffs, we are hearing stories from wind companies all across the country – from Iowa and Colorado, to Ohio and Illinois – that are retaining and re-hiring workers. Instead of moving business overseas, these companies are investing in the next generation of American-made wind technology and are poised for additional growth in the years ahead.

Renewing the PTC has been a top priority for the President because he views the American wind industry as an American success story. Over the past few years – thanks in part to the PTC – this industry has flourished. Today, we have enough wind capacity to power 10 million homes across the country. In 2011, which was a banner year for the industry, nearly one-third of all new power capacity in the United States came from wind.

Notably, as part of the package passed today in the Senate Finance Committee, an important provision was included that allows wind developers to use the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) instead of the Production Tax Credit, which is critical for offshore wind projects in particular.

In a parallel trend, the domestic content of wind turbines has increased dramatically in recent years. It used to be that we had to import most of the 8,000 component parts that go into a modern wind turbine. But today, with nearly 500 wind-related manufacturing facilities in 43 states, we’re producing more and more of those parts in America, which means job opportunities for tens of thousands of American workers in every corner of the country. 

However, without an extension of the PTC, the progress and the milestones of the past few years are in jeopardy. Many manufacturers are already reporting that demand for wind turbines has begun to dramatically slow in light of the uncertainty around this credit, and we know from historical precedent that abruptly ending the PTC would have a significant impact on employment in wind industry.

To simply sit back and let this happen would make no sense – and it shouldn’t be a partisan issue, as evidenced by the 19-5 vote in the Finance Committee today. Moreover, the PTC is supported by the Chamber of Commerce, Fortune 500 Companies like Nike and Yahoo! and Starbucks, and large number of Democratic and Republican governors across the country.

For example, Terry Branstad, the Governor of Iowa, recently said about the PTC that it “has been a very good thing for Iowa in terms of 20 percent of our energy is now generated by wind.”

It’s time for Congress to put politics aside, and support this clear job provision, that supports American workers, American manufacturing, and American competiveness.

We hope Congress agrees and joins the Obama administration in these efforts. 

This was a landmark decision with several key components: 

• The Court upheld EPA’s science-based finding that carbon pollution endangers the public’s health and welfare, noting the “substantial record evidence.” 
• The Court protected the Administration’s historic fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, adding that EPA’s implementation of the Clean Air Act was “unambiguously correct.” 
• Finally, the Court dismissed several petitions challenging a requirement for some of the nation’s largest polluters – starting with new power plants – to install widely-available and cost-effective pollution control technology, while shielding smaller emitters, arguing that “no petitioner had standing.” 

This decision constitutes an important victory in the Obama Administration’s broader efforts to build a stronger, more innovative economy, create new jobs, and protect American families from harmful pollution. We believe these goals go hand in hand.

For example, take the Administration’s fuel economy standards. Taken together, the standards we have proposed span model years 2011 to 2025 and will save families more than $1.7 trillion at the pump, reduce oil imports by 2.2 million barrels a day, and cut greenhouse gas pollution by 6 billion metric tons – roughly equivalent to all such emissions from the United States last year.  

Moreover, these standards will catalyze innovation in the manufacturing sector and create new jobs throughout the supply chain. That includes companies, both big and small, that make everything from advanced engines and transmission systems to cutting-edge batteries and more efficient tires. 

The ruling made by the D.C. District Court earlier this week will help move our country towards cleaner energy future and build on the Administration’s work to create new jobs and protect the health and welfare of the American people. You can read the Court’s decision in full here.

The public health benefits associated with the Administration’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) are enormous. By reducing emissions of toxic pollutants that lead to neurological damage, cancer, respiratory illnesses, and other serious health issues, these standards will benefit millions of people across the country. In fact, the total health and economic benefits to society could reach $90 billion each year.

In spite of these benefits – and the long history of bipartisan support to limit toxic air emissions from the nation’s largest polluters – Senator Inhofe is leading the charge to block these critical standards. And here’s what makes the stakes even higher: if these efforts are successful, the EPA could be prevented from ever limiting mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants in the future – despite the fact that this requirement was initially signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush.

Rarely does a single vote in Congress have the potential to undermine public health and the environment in such a profound and blatant way. For that reason, it’s important to cut through all of the misinformation.

Here are the facts about the Obama Administration’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards:

1. Blocking these standards would represent a major step backwards for public health and the environment.

Air toxics can have a range of serious adverse effects, including various cancers and respiratory, neurological, developmental, and reproductive problems. Mercury exposure is a particular concern for women of childbearing age, babies that were exposed in utero, and young children, because studies have shown that high levels of mercury can cause damage to developing nervous systems. This damage can impair children’s ability to think and learn. Mercury emissions also damage the environment and pollute our nation's lakes, streams, and fish.

Without these standards, power plants will keep pumping hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic air pollutants, including mercury, into the air – even though the technology to stop this pollution is widely available and affordable. The consequences for public health would be severe. Starting in 2016, these standards are slated to save thousands of lives a year – benefits that won’t be achieved if the resolution passes – including:

• 4,200 to 11,000 additional premature deaths;
• 4,700 heart attacks;
• 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms;
• 6,300 cases of acute bronchitis among children;
• 5,700 emergency room visits and hospital admissions;
• 540,000 days of missed work due to respiratory illness. 

2. These standards will provide the power sector with ample time and flexibility to comply, and some in industry have made clear that undoing them will actually lead to greater uncertainty.

Based on significant input and data from the electric power industry and other stakeholders, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards set achievable limits for mercury, acid gases, and other toxic air pollution. By installing readily-available and cost-effective pollution control equipment, power plants will cut pollution dramatically in every state across the country.

Plants will have up to four years – until April 2016 – to meet the standards, which provides ample time for compliance, according to analysis by the Department of Energy and other non-partisan reports.

While the industry as a whole is on track to meet the standards, even more time will be available in cases where it is needed to ensure reliability. For example, EPA has set out a clear pathway to compliance for any reliability-critical units that need additional time. This pathway would allow qualifying facilities to receive an additional year to come into compliance, beyond the four years mentioned above – for a total of five years. This is two years longer than what EPA’s analysis indicates is necessary for most power plants.

Industry has already made clear that undoing these sensible and achievable standards will increase uncertainty. For example, one group of electric power companies recently said that rolling back these standards would “create significant business uncertainty, undermining the investments already made and the planning underway by many in the electric sector to date.”

In addition, consumer electricity prices are expected to remain well within their historical range, and below 1990 levels, during and after the implementation of these standards.  

3. These standards will drive investments in American-made pollution control technology and create jobs.

Since the standards were finalized, the power sector has moved into action. Orders are already being placed for pollution control technology to improve the performance of our nation’s power plants. 

As a result of those orders, tens of thousands of American workers will be hired to build, install, and operate the equipment needed to reduce harmful air pollution. If this initiative were to pass Congress, it would put the brakes on these new jobs and impose uncertainty on industry that will impede resource and investment planning for years to come.

4. History shows that we can protect public health and grow our economy at the same time.

Since the Clean Air Act (CAA) was enacted in 1970 and amended in 1977 and 1990, each time with strong bipartisan support, it has improved the Nation's air quality and protected public health. Since 1970, the economy has grown over 200 percent while emissions of key pollutants have decreased more than 70 percent. More than forty years of clean air regulation has shown that a strong economy and strong environmental and public health protection go hand-in-hand.

President Obama strongly opposes this effort to block vital public health protections and will continue to fight for clean air and healthier communities. That’s why – if it landed on his desk – the President’s senior advisors would recommend a veto of this resolution. We have the ability to make long-overdue progress in cleaning up pollution and to give our children healthier lives, and there is no excuse to move backwards now.

Heather Zichal speaks at the WINDPOWER 2012 Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia.

Earlier this week, I spoke at the WINDPOWER 2012 Conference and Exhibition – the largest wind industry event in the world. Building on President Obama’s remarks in Newton, Iowa, I highlighted a few key items on the President’s To-Do list for Congress -- including extending the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit.

These credits have played an important role in fueling job creation and supporting a manufacturing base in clean energy. As I told the crowd in Atlanta:

This is a priority for the President because he sees the American wind industry as an American success story. Over the past few years – thanks in part to these tax credits – this industry has flourished. Today, we have enough wind capacity to power 10 million homes across the country. In 2011, which was a banner year for the industry, nearly one-third of all new power capacity in the United States came from wind. Five states now produce more than 10 percent of their electricity from wind power. And in places like Iowa and South Dakota, that figure is closer to 20 percent.

So this is an industry with momentum. And it’s an industry that’s putting people back to work. It used to be that we had to import most of the 8,000 component parts that go into a modern wind turbine. But today, with nearly 500 wind-related manufacturing facilities in 43 states, we’re producing more and more of those parts in America.

Thanks in part to actions taken by this Administration the United States has nearly doubled generation from renewable energy sources since 2008. We need to keep this momentum going. But if Congress fails to act on these credits, wind industry experts project that tens of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs.

The progress and the milestones of the past few years are in jeopardy. If Congress doesn’t act, the tax credits that allowed the wind industry to rapidly expand – will expire at the end of this year.

Let’s be clear about what that means. Because what Washington needs to realize is that there’s nothing abstract or unpredictable about the consequences of inaction. If Congress doesn’t act, demand for wind turbines will shrink, factories will come to a standstill, and tens of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs. This is not speculation. We know these things will happen – and we’ve never had so much to lose.

The President has made it clear that we cannot walk away from these jobs and that this should not be a partisan issue. That’s why I made sure to point out the broad based, bipartisan support for these tax credits:

The irony is that almost everybody seems to agree: President Obama; Republican Governors like Terry Branstad of Iowa, Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, and Sam Brownback of Kansas; Members of Congress in both chambers and on both sides of the isle – from Congressman Steve King to Senator John Kerry; The Chamber of Commerce; Fortune 500 companies like Nike and Yahoo! and Starbucks.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg. Bipartisan support continues to build for the PTC, including from Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Karl Rove. To wrap up, I reiterated the President’s commitment to saving American jobs and echoed his call on Congress to act as soon as possible: 

It’s time for Congress to take a stand… After all of the strides the wind industry has made, we can’t go backwards now. We have to keep moving forward. That’s what the President has been fighting for. And that’s what this Administration will be focused on until Congress gets the job done.

Learn more about the actions that President Obama is asking Congress to take here.

As part of his Congressional To-Do List, the President will call on Congress to pass legislation that will extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) – which provides an important tax credit to utility-scale wind producers in the United States – alongside an expansion of the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit that supports American-made clean energy manufacturing in towns and cities across the country. According to industry estimates, the wind industry supports nearly 20,000 direct jobs along with over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in its supply chain, and some in industry have estimated that without extending the PTC, as the President is calling for, up to 37,000 jobs could be lost.

That means real impacts for companies, communities, and families in states across the country. Given that, it’s no surprise that the actions that President is calling for have strong bipartisan support from governors, members of Congress, as well as industry. Let’s take a look:

Letter to the Editor By Gov. Terry E. Branstad(R-IA) in The Wall Street Journal:: “The Production Tax Credit was originally developed and enacted into law with strong bipartisan support that continues today. Congress should act urgently to extend the PTC and provide the certainty wind companies need to continue investing in Iowa's and the nation's future.”

Letter from  Gov. Terry E. Branstad (R-IA) and Gov. Sam Brownback(R-KS) to members of Congress:

“It is a tax policy that has been successful, and we urge you to act expeditiously to extend the wind energy PTC.”

Op-Ed by Gov. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) in The Wichita Eagle

“If we expect the wind-energy industry to provide for our country’s future energy needs and make long-term investments in their businesses, Congress must reauthorize the wind-production tax credit that expires this year.  By extending the wind PTC, Congress will allow the wind industry to complete its transformation from being a high-tech startup to becoming cost-competitive in the energy marketplace.”

Letter from Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) , Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA), Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA), Rep. Steve King (R-IA):

“However, with the PTC for wind due to expire at the end of 2012, the expansion, jobs and manufacturing of the industry is put in serious jeopardy – not just in Iowa, but across the country.  We must provide some certainty to allow this industry to keep growing.  If the PTC is not extended immediately, our communities back home stand to lose thousands of jobs, manufacturing and private investment.  The manufacturing workers, in particular, are the first to lose their jobs as developers have already stopped ordering turbines for installation after 2012 because of uncertainty about the continuation of the credit.”

Letter from Oklahoma Governor. Mary Fallin:

As a country, we have decided to support energy diversity and development of all domestic resources,creating an “all of the above” energy strategy. The PTC plays an important role in helping to deploy technologiesthat ensure a diverse, domestic energy fleet. The PTC was originally developed and enacted into law with strong bipartisan support that continues today and is a tax policy that has been successful. The PTC should be evaluated in the future to determine its long-term viability; however, the credit needs to be extended immediately to create certainty today. I therefore urge you to act expeditiously to extend the wind energy PTC this year.”

Bipartisan Congressional Endorsements of PTC:

99 co-sponsors of HR 3307, a bill to extend the PTC for four years.

8 co-sponsors of S 2201, a bill to extend the PTC for two years.

Additional PTC Endorsements:

Letter from 370 companies and organizations, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Edison Electric Institute, to Congressional leadership 

“It is urgent that we avoid the looming tax increase on wind energy, as investments are stalling now and will continue to stall, with corresponding job losses, until a bill to extend the PTC is passed.”

Letter from 15 major consumer brands, including Nike, Levi Strauss & Co., and Campbell Soup, to Congressional leadership

“Failure to extend the PTC for wind would tax our companies and thousands of others like us that purchase significant amounts of renewable energy and hurt our bottom lines at a time when the economy is struggling to recover.  Extending the PTC lowers prices for all consumers, keeps America competitive in a global marketplace, and creates home grown American jobs.”

Testimony by Caroline L. Harris, US Chamber of Commerce Chief Tax Counsel and Director of Tax Policy, before the Senate Finance Committee

"When Congress fails to act, provisions such as the wind Production Tax Credit… do not operate efficiently. Industries that are in their infancy are damaged because the code provisions they need to rely on to build up are not there. The damage is real as products are not developed and projects are not undertaken…Congress must act now to extend these vital provisions."

Letter from the National Governors’ Association to Congressional leadership

“Renewable energy provides Americans with high-tech manufacturing jobs, secure sources of energy, and our states with crucial economic development opportunities.  To supplement state efforts, governors support the continuation of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind and renewable energy…”

Letter from the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition to Congressional leadership

“Wind-related manufacturing is beginning to slow in our states because the credit has not yet been extended.  If Congress pursues a last minute approach to the extension, the anticipated interruption of the credit’s benefits will result in a significant loss of high-paying jobs in a growing sector of the economy.”

As part of that effort, the Administration has focused on expanding production of natural gas. After all, we have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. And this Administration will continue to take steps to develop this energy resource in a way that can help fuel our economy and, according to industry experts, support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

Last year, U.S. natural gas production grew by more than 7 percent in 2011 – the largest year-over-year volumetric increase in history – and easily eclipsed the previous production record set in 1973. As we produce more of this resource in the years ahead, its potential to power everything from our trucks to our factories only grows, while at the same time reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

At the same time, it’s imperative that we develop our natural gas resources in a safe and responsible way. For the Administration, this is a top priority.

So today – following through on a promise that the President made in his State of the Union address – the Department of Interior (DOI) has proposed a rule that will require companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on public and Indian trust lands.

This is a sensible, common sense step that incorporates feedback from the public, industry, tribal representatives, and other key stakeholders andaligns with standards already in place in certain states. Currently, there is no specific requirement for operators to disclose these chemicals on federal, tribal and Indian trust lands, where approximately 90 percent of the wells drilled use hydraulic fracturing to increase oil and gas production. Accordingly, this proposed rule will modernize our management of well stimulation activities to ensure that fracturing operations conducted on public and Indian lands follow industry best practices.

Separately, the EPA announced today new draft permitting guidance for using diesel fuel in oil and gas hydraulic fracturing. This guidance is designed to improve compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act requirements and strengthen environmental protections consistent with existing law.

These steps build on a series of recent actions to promote prudent natural gas development in the United States. Just last month, the President issued an Executive Order to create a new Interagency Working Group to Support Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources, which will coordinate the efforts of federal agencies responsible for overseeing domestic natural gas development.

Moving forward, we will take full advantage of our natural gas resources, while giving American families and communities the confidence that natural and cultural resources, air and water quality, and public health and safety will not be compromised.

Better Buildings

In December, as part of his We Can’t Wait initiative, the President challenged federal agencies to make at least $2 billion worth of energy-efficiency upgrades over the next two years. Meeting the first of several milestones of the challenge, federal agencies have identified $2.1 billion of projects that will pay for themselves using performance-based contracts.

Of the $2.1 billion in energy upgrade projects identified by agencies, more than $100 million in Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Savings Contracts (UESCs) have been awarded already, and an additional $1.2 billion in projects are in development – demonstrating strong momentum towards meeting the President’s goal.

These federal agencies join leading corporations, colleges and universities, hospitals, cities, and states that together have committed nearly $2 billion in private capital investments, and more than 1.6 billion square feet of building and industrial space to upgrade energy performance by at least 20 percent by 2020 through the Better Buildings Challenge.

Green Button

To unlock billions more in opportunities to save energy, we need to help households and businesses understand how they use energy. That is why the administration partnered with the utility industry to make it easier for electricity customers to get secure online access to their own energy data in a consumer- and computer-friendly format, called “Green Button.”   

Today, six new utilities and electricity suppliers committed to provide over 3 million households and businesses unprecedented access to their own energy use data with a simple click of an online “Green Button.” These new commitments bring the total number of U.S. households and businesses with access to their energy data to 30 million. 

That means 30 million households and businesses that can use web and smartphone apps to pick the best rate plan for them; take advantage of customized energy efficiency tips; utilize easy-to-use tools to size and finance rooftop solar panels; and download virtual energy audit software that can cut costs for building owners and help get retrofits started sooner.  

All-of-the-Above

Energy efficiency is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to create jobs, save money, and cut down on harmful pollution. And that is why we continue to look for new ways to build on the progress of and the excitement around efforts like Better Buildings and Green Button. In this pursuit, we take an all-in approach. Whether it’s the historic fuel economy standards that will nearly double the miles you can go on a gallon, or investments that have led to more than a million homes weatherized across the country – we keep building on efficiency, and we keep betting on American workers and American know-how to help create a secure energy future.

The most dramatic expansion has been in natural gas. Since taking office the President has made clear that he believes this important, abundant domestic resource holds unique promise to fuel our energy sector, fuel our vehicles, as well as fuel job growth – all while reducing harmful emissions.   U.S. natural gas production grew in 2011 – the largest year-over-year volumetric increase in history – and easily eclipsed the previous all-time production record set in 1973.

To ensure that we can successfully tap this critical resource for decades to come, we must develop it safely and responsibly, taking full advantage of the opportunity while also giving American families and communities the confidence that our air and water are safe. 

At the same time, as the administration develops a framework for safe and responsible production that builds on steps already taken by states across the country, we must ensure that those efforts continue to happen in a coordinated way.

That is why, in line with his goal of expanding safe and responsible production of natural gas, today the President issued an Executive Order to create a new Interagency Working Group to Support Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources.

This new interagency working group will include representatives of a number of agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Interior, Agriculture,  Commerce, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Energy, Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Economic Council

This group will build on ongoing efforts to coordinate activities across the federal government.  For example, today, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency released a Memorandum of Understanding that will ensure close coordination of research and development activities to take advantage of each agency’s areas of expertise and eliminate redundancy. 

The new Working Group underscores the President’s strong commitment to developing our abundant domestic natural gas resources in a safe and responsible way. 

There are a lot of tough issues that come before Congress each year. This is not one of them. After all, these are tax breaks that oil companies don’t need and that we can’t afford. It should be a no brainer.

The United States has been subsidizing the oil industry for a century. President Obama believes that’s long enough. In fact, some of the oldest tax breaks for the oil companies date back to 1913 – a time when there were only 48 states in the Union and Ford was still producing the Model T.

After 100 years, there’s no reason for Congress to keep these subsidies on the books, especially right now. Today, as American families all across the country are feeling pain at the pump, the oil industry is posting record profits. In 2011 alone, the three largest American oil companies made a combined profit of more than $80 billion, or more than $200 million per day.

Now, we don’t begrudge companies for being successful in America. We want them to thrive and grow. But we also have to get our priorities straight. We have to invest in our future, not subsidize the past. Yet in the latest budget proposal by House Republicans, they want to keep the billions in tax breaks for oil companies in place while slashing discretionary investments in clean energy programs by nearly half. That just doesn’t make sense.

So the question that Congress needs to ask itself this week is simple: at a time when oil companies are making more money than ever before, how can we justify giving them billions more in taxpayer subsidies every year? And if Congress doesn’t vote to eliminate these tax breaks now, then when? How much bigger do oil company profits need to be? How many more years will the American people have to wait? This is a perfect example of an issue that makes Americans so cynical about Washington.

There’s little doubt that supporters of these subsidies will argue that ending tax breaks for oil companies will take away their incentive to produce oil. That claim is patently false – and it’s brought to you by the some of same people that like to offer up their easy, three point plans for $2 gas. As the former CEO of a major oil company said just last year, “in the face of sustained high oil prices it was not an issue – for the large companies – of needing the subsidies to lure us into looking and producing more oil.” In short, today’s oil prices alone provide more than enough incentive for the industry to produce more oil here at home. Last year, domestic oil production was at the highest level in nearly a decade.

As the President has said, it’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that has never been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. We look forward to this vote and hope that Congress chooses to do what’s right and finally end these subsidies. At the very least, this vote will put every single member of Congress on the record. They can either stand up for oil companies, or they can stand up for the American people.

When it comes to domestic production, the President has made clear he wants us to continue to produce more oil and natural gas.  This alone isn’t a solution to high gas prices, but it will help reduce our reliance on foreign oil and our vulnerability to the ups and downs of the international market. On that front, the numbers speak for themselves; every year the President has been in office, domestic oil and gas production is up, foreign imports of oil are down, and currently we are producing more oil than any time in eight years.  In fact, imports of foreign oil decreased by a million barrels a day in the last year alone. 

Despite these encouraging trends, there are some who seem to want to paint a bleak picture of the state of American energy. So let’s take a look at the facts.

In 2011, American oil production reached the highest level in nearly a decade and natural gas production reached an all-time high.

America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year since President Obama took office. Thanks to booming U.S. oil and gas production, more efficient cars and trucks, and a world-class refining sector that last year was a net exporter for the first time in 60 years, we have cut net imports by ten percent – or a million barrels a day – in the last year alone.

Thanks to new fuel economy standards the President announced last year, we will nearly double the efficiency of the cars and trucks we drive – to 55 miles per gallon – by 2025. These historic standards won’t just save the average driver more than $8000 at the pump – they’ll reduce oil imports by 2.2 million barrels a day and put us on track to meeting the President’s goal of reducing oil imports by one-third by the end of the decade, relative to where they were when he ran for office.

On Monday, the President received a new progress report on his Administration’s Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future that showcases our historic achievements as part of an all-of-the-above approach to American energy – a strategy aimed at reducing our reliance on foreign oil, saving families and businesses money at the pump, and positioning the United States as the global leader in clean energy. 

Growing Oil & Gas Development on Public Lands and Waters

Despite these successes some have called into question production of oil and natural gas on America’s public lands and offshore waters. Again, the facts speak for themselves, and a new report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) published today confirms that the Obama Administration has overseen an overall expansion of production on federal lands and waters – as part of the nationwide rise in production levels.  At the same time we are taking concrete steps to encourage industry to develop the thousands of leases and permits they already have but are currently sitting idle (more on that below).

We know that production levels will fluctuate from year-to-year based on market conditions and industry decisions. It also reflects the fact that the nation battled a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Still, the overall trends show a clear picture of rising domestic production.

Confirmed by the EIA: Oil and Gas Production on Federal Lands and Waters is Up Overall

Total federal oil production (offshore and onshore) has increased by 13 percent during the first three years of the Obama Administration combined, compared with the last three years of the previous administration. Each of the three years from 2009-2011 was higher than any year from 2006-2008.

Expansion of Active Oil and Gas Rig

In addition to higher production levels overall, we are seeing major development activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Independent analysis shows that the total number of active offshore rigs in the United States was higher in January 2012 than any time since May 2010.

Nationwide, the total number of oil rigs (offshore and onshore) has quadrupled since the President took office.

Providing Access and Opportunity for Development

The Obama Administration continues to provide ample opportunity to drill on public lands and waters – in fact, we provide more acres for leasing than industry has interest in buying. While industry has more acreage under lease than it is putting to productive use, we continue to encourage companies to use the leases they already own, while offering up millions of new areas for development.

Leases Sitting Idle

• On public lands, industry has leased approximately 38 million acres of land, but is actively producing or exploring on just 16 million of those acres that they already have purchased the rights to.
• Offshore, industry has leased nearly 38 million acres, but operators were actively exploring or developing on just over 10 million of those acres that they already have purchased the rights to – leaving more than 70 percent of leased acres idle, as of 2011.

Approved Permits Unused

• Companies continue to sit on thousands of approved but unused onshore drilling permits and leases on our public lands – 7,000 drilling permits received by industry that aren't being acted upon – that aren’t being used actually to produce oil and gas.

Millions of Acres Offered for New Leases

• On public lands, DOI held 32 onshore oil and gas lease sales, offering 1,755 parcels of land covering nearly 4.4 million acres in 2011. We will hold 32 additional sales in calendar year 2012.
• Offshore, DOI offered nearly 37 million acres for lease, but companies leased just 2.4 million acres in 2010. In 2011, we held a lease sale in the Western Gulf of Mexico that made available more than 21 million acres – equal to an area the size of South Carolina – and just over 1 million acres were leased by industry.*
• In addition, offshore permitting is nearly back to pre-Deepwater Horizon levels – while at the same time we have instituted the largest offshore drilling reforms in U.S. history following the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe to make sure that development happens safely and responsibly.
• Since these new standards were put into place, we approved over 400 permits for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico that meet these important new standards.

Opening 75 Percent of Available Offshore Resources to Development

Moving forward, at the President’s direction, we are making more than 75 percent of undiscovered technically recoverable offshore oil and natural gas resources available for exploration and development in the next five years. Those who claim that the areas that will be offered constitute few total acres aren’t paying attention to where the oil and gas resources are – that’s where we are focusing our attention, in places like the Western Gulf and the Central Gulf, an offshore area which, according to our resource estimates, has nearly double the resource potential of any other. Just look at this map.

*This number is not final; though we have evaluated all the bids, not all the leases have been executed at this point – and some changes may follow.

Today, the President received a new progress report, showcasing the Administration’s historic achievements in each of these areas. The accomplishments in this report, which represent the efforts of six Federal agencies, underscore the Administration’s commitment over the past three years to promoting an all-hands-on-deck, all-of-the-above approach to American energy and building a more secure energy future.

Report Highlights:

• Increasing American Energy Independence: A year ago, the President set a bold but achievable goal of reducing oil imports by a third in a little over a decade, relative to where they were when he ran for office.  Thanks to booming U.S. oil and gas production, more efficient cars and trucks, and a world-class refining sector that last year was a net exporter for the first time in sixty years, we have already cut net imports by ten percent – or a million barrels a day – in the last year alone. And with the new fuel economy standards the President announced last year, we are on pace to meet our goal by the end of the decade.
• Expanding Domestic Oil and Gas Production: Domestic oil and natural gas production has increased every year President Obama has been in office. In 2011, American oil production reached the highest level in nearly a decade and natural gas production reached an all-time high.
• Setting Historic New Fuel Economy Standards: The Obama Administration has put in place the first-ever fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks, and proposed the toughest fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles in U.S. history, requiring an average performance equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Over time, these new standards will save consumers more than $8,000 in lower fuel costs.
• Improving Energy Efficiency in 1 Million Homes: Since October 2009, the Department of Energy and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have completed energy upgrades in more than one million homes across the country. For many families, these upgrades save over $400 on their heating and cooling bills in the first year alone.
• Doubling Renewable Energy Generation: Thanks in part to the Obama Administration’s investment in clean energy – the largest in American history – the United States has nearly doubled renewable energy generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources since 2008.
• Developing Advanced, Alternative Fuels: In 2010, President Obama set a goal of breaking ground on at least four commercial scale cellulosic or advanced biorefineries by 2013. That goal has been accomplished, one year ahead of schedule. Together, these projects, and associated demonstration and pilot projectswill produce a combined total of nearly 100 million gallons per year of advanced biofuels capacity.
• Supporting Cutting-Edge Research: The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), which the Obama Administration funded for the first-time ever in 2009, has supported more than 120 individual projects aimed at achieving new and transformational energy breakthroughs.

Even with this progress, there is much more work to be done. Today, we are experiencing yet another painful reminder of why developing new American energy is so critical to our future. Just like last year, gas prices are climbing across the country – except this time, even earlier. While there are no silver bullets to solve these challenges, the Obama Administration will continue to build on the progress we’ve made over the past three years. Through a sustained, all-of-the-above approach to American energy we’ll work to restore middle class security, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create an economy that’s built to last.

Heather Zichal is the Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

There is a lot of discussion lately about domestic energy production and American energy security. For the Obama Administration, moving towards the goal of energy independence has been a clear priority since day one. When President Obama took office, the United States imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. The President has put forward a plan to cut that by one-third by 2025 by strengthening domestic production of our energy resources, making our homes and buildings more efficient, and transitioning to a wide range of clean energy technologies.

When it comes to domestic energy production, the numbers speak for themselves. Since 2008, U.S. oil and natural gas production has increased, while imports of foreign oil have decreased. Here are the facts: 

• In 2011, U.S. crude oil production reached its highest level since 2003, increasing by an estimated 90,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) over 2010 levels to 5.57 million bbl/d.   
• U.S. natural gas production grew by an estimated 7.4 percent in 2011– the largest year-over-year volumetric increase – and easily eclipsed the previous all-time production record set in 1973. 
• Overall, oil imports have been falling since 2008, and net imports as a share of total consumption declined from 57 percent in 2008 to 45 percent in 2011 – the lowest level since 1995. 

In May of last year, President Obama outlined a series of additional steps to expand domestic oil and gas production as part of his long-term plan to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. More specifically, the President directed the Department of Interior (DOI) to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A), speed up the evaluation of oil and gas resources in the mid- and south-Atlantic, develop new incentives for industry to develop unused leases both onshore and offshore, extend drilling leases in the areas of the Gulf impacted by the temporary moratorium following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and lease new areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Significant progress has been made in many of these areas. For instance, in December 2011, DOI held the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since the oil spill. The sale, which covered over 1 million acres, attracted more than $338 million in total bids – about $100 million more than average for Western Gulf sales over the previous decade. During the same month, DOI held a lease sale in Alaska’s NPR-A that generated winning bids of over $3.6 million and covered 17 tracts on over 140,000 acres.

The Administration has also taken historic action to reduce our dependence on oil by making our cars and trucks more efficient. In July of last year, the President announced the next phase in the Administration’s program to increase fuel economy, which will require a performance equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon for model year 2017-2025 passenger vehicles. Taken together, the standards established under this Administration span Model Years 2011 to 2025. They will save American families money at the pump, for a total of $1.7 trillion in fuel savings over the life of the program. They will clean up our environment, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 6 billion metric tons over the life of the program, while reducing pollutants like air toxics, cause soot, and smog.

These new fuel economy standards will dramatically cut our oil dependence, reducing consumption by an estimated 2.2 million barrels a day in 2025 (eventually reaching more than 4 million barrels a day as the fleet turns over), and saving 12 billion barrels in total over the lifetime of the program. To put that in perspective, it would take a pipeline that carried 700,000 barrels a day nearly 47 years to transport the amount of oil we are saving thanks to these new fuel economy standards.

Of course, the Administration has also been intent on developing and deploying clean energy technologies and positioning the United States as the global leader in the clean energy race. The Recovery Act invested more than $90 billion in clean energy, the largest such investment in America’s history. Those investments have created hundreds of thousands of jobs and spurred thousands of clean energy projects across the country. For example, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program has already supported more than 40 clean energy projects that will ultimately employ more than 60,000 Americans. And because of Recovery Act investments, we are on track to double non-hydro renewable electricity generation from 2008 levels this year.

In short, the Obama Administration’s approach to achieving American energy independence has been a comprehensive and sustained effort, with emphasis on boosting domestic energy production, increasing efficiency, and transitioning to cleaner energy sources.

But what’s abundantly clear is that there are no silver bullets when it comes to this challenge. And the idea, as some in Washington have tried to suggest, that building a pipeline is the ultimate answer to the question of American energy security and job creation is nothing more than a pipe dream. The truth is that just two of the Administration’s programs – the DOE Loan Guarantee Program and the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards – will create more than 10 times the amount of jobs generated by the Keystone XL pipeline, which will only generate a few thousand temporary jobs. In terms of reducing America’s dependence on oil, the Administration’s fuel economy standards alone will save more than twice the amount of oil the Keystone pipeline would deliver.  

Watch President Obama's full remarks here.

Today marks yet another historic day in the Obama Administration’s efforts to protect the health of American families and our environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized the first-ever national standards to reduce mercury and other toxic air emissions – like arsenic, acid gas, and cyanide – from power plants, which are the largest sources of this pollution in the United States.

This crucial step forward will bring enormous public health benefits. By substantially reducing emissions of toxic pollutants that lead to neurological damage, cancer, respiratory illnesses, and other serious health issues, these standards will benefit millions of people across the country, but especially children, older Americans, and other vulnerable populations. Cumulatively, the total health and economic benefits to society could reach $90 billion each year.

When fully implemented, these new standards will, on an annual basis, help prevent:

• Up to 11,000 premature deaths;
• 2,800 cases of chronic bronchitis;
• 4,700 heart attacks;
• 130,000 asthma attacks;
• 5,700 hospital and emergency room visits; and
• 540,000 days when people miss work or school.

Notably, today’s announcement has roots that trace back more than two decades, when Congress passed landmark, bipartisan legislation requiring the United States to limit toxic air emissions from the nation’s biggest polluters. Yet that legislation was only a first step. Today more than twenty years later, mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants remains unchecked. That is, until now.

These sensible new standards were developed with extensive input from the public as well as industry and can be implemented with widely available and cost-effective pollution control technology. The United States is a global market leader in the design and manufacture of these technologies, and American companies and workers will provide much of the equipment and labor needed to meet the substantial investments in pollution controls that these standards will generate.

To be sure, in the weeks and months to come, there will be some in Congress that will try to prevent these important standards from being implemented. Some will argue that these standards will negatively impact electric reliability across America, even though an independent analysis from the Department of Energy shows clearly that is not the case. Others will claim that there is not enough time to comply with these standards, despite the fact that these rules have been in the works for 20 years. Finally, some will say this step is too costly and we should opt for even more delay, despite the fact that for every one dollar we spend to reduce pollution under these standards, American families will see up to $9 dollars in health benefits. 

In conjunction with the release of the rule, President Obama also issued a Presidential Memorandum which underscores the health benefits of the rule and directs EPA Administrator Jackson to use flexibilities built into the Clean Air Act where needed, and to work proactively with states, industry and other entities in a transparent manner to implement the rule in way that delivers the health benefits of the rule while addressing reliability concerns.

At the end of the day, President Obama believes that Americans have waited long enough for these common-sense standards and that it is now time to do what is right for the country. To hear him make the case in his own words, check out the video.

Over the past few years, to build on four decades of success under the Clean Air Act, the Obama Administration has taken a series of historic actions to reduce harmful air pollution and promote public health. The new standards that we have established to slash mercury emissions, curb cross-state pollution, and make cars and trucks more efficient will result in enormous economic and health benefits to society. For example, the recently finalized cross-state air pollution rule alone is expected to prevent up to 34,000 premature deaths each year.

These are all appropriate and necessary steps to protect families and the environment that can and must be implemented in a way that maintains reliability of the electric grid. Historically speaking, the electric utility sector has a strong track record of providing both safe and reliable electricity to American consumers. Grid operators, states, generators, and federal agencies have developed tools, procedures, and technologies to ensure the continued reliable delivery of electricity to consumers.

Nonetheless, a few industry voices argue that the Administration’s new standards will undermine grid reliability. Many of those claims have been based on early or incomplete predictions about Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules. That’s why the independent analysis carried out by DOE is so important. Their analysis modeled a “stress test” scenario that deliberately went well beyond the requirements of the new clean air standards being put into place by the EPA. The point of the analysis was to test whether even under extreme conditions there would be enough power generating capacity to meet peak electricity demand throughout the country. The result: the power grid passed with flying colors.

Additionally, the DOE report finds that the law allows enough time for utilities to upgrade their power plants or add new generation – and that in specific cases where localized issues do arise, the Clean Air Act already provides the tools and necessary flexibility to address those concerns on a plant-specific or local basis.

As DOE Assistant Secretary David Sandalow explained:

Our review, combined with several other studies, demonstrates that new EPA rules – which will provide extensive public health protections from an array of harmful pollutants – should not create resource adequacy issues.  Any local reliability challenges that could arise should be manageable with timely cooperation and effective coordination among all relevant stakeholders.  Working together, we can and will provide safe, reliable electricity to American consumers.

Here’s the bottom line: we can protect American families from harmful pollution and continue the long history of working together with all stakeholders to ensure the reliability of our electric power grid. The notion that EPA standards to limit pollution from power plants will somehow “turn off the lights” just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, even in a scenario that does not take into account the flexibility and technical assistance federal agencies provide to help utilities comply with clean air standards. This conclusion has been fortified by a number of other reports, testimony, and public statements on reliability, a few of which are included below:

Congressional Research Service

Recent reports by industry trade associations and others have discussed potential harm of EPA’s prospective regulations to U.S. electricity generating capacity, with emphasis on coal-fired generation…The EEI and other analyses discussed here generally predate EPA’s actual proposals and reflect assumptions about stringency and timing (especially for implementation) that differ significantly from what EPA actually may propose or has promulgated…The primary impacts of many of the rules will largely be on coal-fired plants more than 40 years old that have not, until now, installed state-of-the-art pollution controls. Many of these plants are inefficient and are being replaced by more efficient combined cycle natural gas plants, a development likely to be encouraged if the price of competing fuel—natural gas—continues to be low, almost regardless of EPA rules.

Bipartisan Policy Center

BPC analysis indicates that scenarios in which electric system reliability is broadly affected are unlikely to occur. Previous national assessments of the combined effects of EPA regulations reach different conclusions, in part because they make quite different assumptions about the stringency and timing of new requirements and about the availability and difficulty of implementing control technologies. In some cases these assumptions deviate from the specifics of EPA’s recent proposals in meaningful ways.

Letter to the Editor in the Wall Street Journal by Energy CEO’s

The electric sector has known that these rules were coming. Many companies, including ours, have already invested in modern air-pollution control technologies and cleaner and more efficient power plants. For over a decade, companies have recognized that the industry would need to install controls to comply with the act's air toxicity requirements, and the technology exists to cost effectively control such emissions, including mercury and acid gases.

Signed: Peter Darbee, chairman, president and CEO, PG&E Corp.; Jack Fusco, president and CEO, Calpine Corp.; Lewis Hay, chairman and CEO, NextEra Energy, Inc.; Ralph Izzo, chairman, president and CEO, Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc.; Thomas King, president, National Grid USA,; John Rowe, chairman and CEO, Exelon Corp.; Mayo Shattuck, chairman, president and CEO, Constellation Energy Group; Larry Weis, general manager, Austin Energy.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have formally announced their joint proposal to set stronger fuel economy and greenhouse gas pollution standards for model year 2017-2025 passenger cars and light-duty trucks. When combined with other actions the Administration has taken to increase efficiency in the transportation sector, this announcement will save Americans $1.7 trillion, reduce oil consumption by 2.2 million barrels per day by 2025, and slash greenhouse gas emissions by 6 billion metric tons.

Under the proposal, model year 2017-2025 cars and light-duty trucks are expected to achieve increases in fuel efficiency equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. This builds on the first phase of President Obama’s national program announced in 2009, which will raise the average fuel economy of passenger vehicles to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

These standards provide regulatory certainty and flexibility for auto manufacturers. By continuing the national program developed for model year 2012-2016 vehicles, EPA and DOT have designed a proposal that allows manufacturers to keep producing a single, national fleet of passenger cars and light trucks that satisfies all federal and California requirements, while ensuring that consumers enjoy a full range of vehicle choices.

The ambitious goals established in these standards will drive innovation in the manufacturing sector and help create high-quality jobs across the country. Major auto manufacturers are already heavily invested in developing advanced technologies that can significantly reduce fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions beyond the existing model year 2012-2016 targets. A wide range of technologies are currently available for automakers to meet the new standards, including advanced gasoline engines and transmissions, vehicle weight reduction, lower tire rolling resistance, improvements in aerodynamics, diesel engines, more efficient accessories, and improvements in air conditioning systems. The new standards should also encourage manufacturers to explore electric technologies such as start/stop, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles. Notably, the model year 2017-2025 proposal includes a number of incentive programs to promote early adoption and introduction of “game changing” advanced technologies, such as hybridization for pickup trucks.

Developed in partnership with 13 major auto manufacturers including Ford, GM and Chrysler, the state of California, the United Auto Workers (UAW), consumer and environmental groups, and other stakeholders, these achievable and cost-effective standards represent the most significant federal action ever taken to improve fuel economy and reduce carbon pollution. In fact, these standards will bring the nation over halfway to the President’s goal of reducing oil imports by a third by 2025.

The President’s national fuel economy program represents a key component of the comprehensive energy policy that this Administration has pursued since day one, which aims to increase safe and responsible energy production at home while reducing our overall dependence on oil with advanced biofuels and greater efficiency.

To build on the tremendous success of the Clean Air Act, the Obama Administration has taken the most significant steps in a generation to reduce harmful pollution and promote public health. The new standards that we have issued or proposed – to curb interstate pollution, reduce mercury exposure, and make our cars more fuel efficient, just to name a few – will result in significant economic and health benefits each year. 

Just over forty years ago, the Senate did something that would be almost unthinkable today: It passed major legislation by a unanimous vote. That legislation was the Clean Air Act of 1970, signed by President Richard Nixon. Two decades later, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were passed, again with large bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress, and signed by President George H. W. Bush. 

But today, Republicans in Congress are trying to use our current economic climate as an excuse to roll back clean air protections that Americans have counted on for decades. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is currently leading an effort to block the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) that would save tens of thousands of lives each year. In doing so, Senator Paul is using the Congressional Review Act to repeal this important rule and prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from protecting American families from cross-state pollution in the future. 

Let’s be clear – this brazen effort doesn’t just undermine the public health, it also undermines the judgment of the courts. In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C. Circuit found critical flaws in the Bush Administration’s efforts on interstate air pollution and directed the EPA to issue a replacement rule as quickly as possible. After seeking and incorporating extensive input from the public, the states, environmental and public health groups, as well as industry, the EPA finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution rule in July of this year. 

What does the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Do? 

This rule is designed protect the health of millions of Americans by helping states reduce harmful air pollution through the deployment of readily available technologies that are already in use at many facilities across the country. By reducing dangerous pollution emitted by power plants, the rule protects residents in dozens of states who are unknowingly subjected to toxic emissions from plants often hundreds of miles away. 

What benefits will the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule provide for American Families? 

The emission reductions from this final rule will have significant and immediate public health benefits, each year preventing:

• 13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths,
• 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis,
• 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks,
• 19,000 hospital and emergency room visits,
• 1.8 million days when people miss work or school,
• 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and
• 420,000 cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms.

In addition, the benefits of this rule are expected to far outweigh its costs, producing over $100 billion in net benefits each year. 

We will continue to take smart sensible steps that ensure we protect the health of our families, while also opposing efforts to undermine the Clean Air Act.

As a country, we face a fundamental choice about our energy future. We can continue with the status quo, or we can chart a new course forward – one that prioritizes investments in cleaner sources of energy to reduce our dependence on oil, strengthen American competitiveness, and protect public health and the environment.

President Obama believes that choice is clear. And that’s why the Administration has taken historic action to lay the foundation for a clean energy economy here in the United States. In the span of just two and a half years, we have made the largest investments in clean energy in our nation’s history, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and putting us on track to double renewable energy capacity by the end of the President’s first term. We have built the domestic advanced battery industry from scratch, jump-starting the American manufacturing sector. We have established the toughest fuel economy standards for cars and trucks ever, saving consumers money at the pump and ensuring the vehicles of the future are built here in America. And we have taken the most aggressive steps in a generation to protect the health of American families by reducing harmful air pollution.

Without President Obama’s leadership, none of these accomplishments would have been possible. Still, progress hasn’t come easy – even now, there are those that would prefer to reverse course and simply wave the white flag in the global race to develop cleaner sources of energy. Sadly, some believe that we just can’t compete.

As the President said just yesterday, he doesn't buy that. We’re not going to surrender to other countries’ technological leads that could end up determining whether or not we’re building a strong middle class in this country. We’re going to have to keep on pushing hard to make sure that manufacturing is located here, new businesses are located here, and new technologies are developed here. 

All across the country, millions of Americans are already doing their part. Farmers are pushing the envelope to develop advanced and renewable fuels, young people are taking action to make their schools and communities more sustainable, and our nation’s scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are working together to move new ideas and technologies from the lab to the marketplace.

Throughout October, we’ll be highlighting the ongoing work the Administration is doing to build a clean energy economy, so stay tuned for upcoming announcements and events. And to learn more about the President’s vision for a more secure energy future, please visit WhiteHouse.gov/energy.

Heather Zichal is the Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

Clean Air: An Investment in Health, the Environment, and the Economy

Clean air is critical to protecting public health and the environment and the evidence shows that it’s a good investment.  A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that the direct benefits of the Clean Air Act – in the form of cleaner air and healthier, more productive Americans – are estimated to reach nearly $2 trillion in the year 2020, exceeding the costs by a factor of more than 30 to one.  These benefits are ultimately about the health of our families. 

According to the report, in 2010 alone, the reductions in fine particle and ozone pollution from the Clean Air Act prevented:

• 160,000 premature deaths;
• More than 80,000 emergency room visits;
• Millions of cases of respiratory problems;
• Millions of lost workdays, increasing productivity;
• Millions of lost school days due to respiratory illness and other diseases caused or exacerbated by air pollution.

The Obama Administration’s Record of Achievement

Doubling fuel efficiency for cars and light duty trucks:  Shortly after taking office, President Obama directed the EPA and the Department of Transportation (DOT)to set joint fuel efficiency standards and greenhouse gas standards for cars and light-duty trucks built in 2012-2016.  These groundbreaking standards, finalized in April 2010, will raise fuel efficiency to 35.5 mpg and begin saving families money at the pump this year.  In July 2011, the President announced the next round of standards, for Model Years 2017 – 2025, which will require performance equivalent to 54.5 mpg or 163 grams/ mile of CO2 for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025.  Together, the Administration’s programs for cars and light duty trucks represent the first meaningful update to fuel efficiency standards in three decades and will save American families $1.7 trillion dollars in fuel costs, and by 2025 result in an average fuel savings of over $8,000 per vehicle.  Additionally, these programs will dramatically cut the oil we consume, saving a total of 12 billion barrels of oil, and by 2025 reduce oil consumption by 2.2 million barrels a day.  Achieving our efficiency goals will also secure demand for innovative technologies and manufacturing that will spur economic growth and create high-quality domestic jobs in cutting edge industries across America.

First-ever standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks:  In addition to historic rules for light-duty vehicles, the Administration has announced the first-ever fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.  Under the comprehensive new national program, trucks and buses built in 2014 through 2018 will reduce oil consumption by a projected 530 million barrels and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution by approximately 270 million metric tons.  The standards are expected to yield an estimated $50 billion in net benefits over the life of model year 2014 to 2018 vehicles, resulting in significant long-terms savings for vehicle owners and operators.

Cutting pollution from power plants and industrial sources: EPA finalized additional Clean Air Act protections that will slash hundreds of thousands of tons of smokestack emissions that travel long distances through the air leading to soot and smog, threatening the health of hundreds of millions of Americans living downwind. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will reduce air pollution (including ozone) and is projected to prevent up to 34,000 deaths annually, producing annual estimated net benefits in excess of $100 billion. Twenty seven states in the eastern half of the country will work with power plants to cut air pollution under the rule, which leverages widely available, proven and cost-effective control technologies. Many power plants covered by the rule have already made substantial investments in clean air technologies to reduce SO₂ and NO_x emissions.

First national standard to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants: Power plants are the largest remaining source of several toxic air pollutants – responsible for half of mercury and more than half of acid gas emissions in the United States. In the power sector alone, coal-fired power plants are responsible for 99 percent of mercury emissions. In March of 2011, the Administration proposed new power plant mercury and air toxics standards to cut harmful emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases, preventing as many as 18,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart attacks a year. These proposed standards would also prevent up to 5,300 hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular diseasesand up to 860,000 days of work missed due to illness.  The total health and economic benefits of this standard in 2016 would be up to $130 billion. In addition, the Administration is putting in place standards to reduce toxic pollution from cement plants, oil and gas extraction, and industrial boilers – steps which will provide large public health benefits for communities across the country.

Reducing harmful air pollution by expanding cleaner alternatives and increasing efficiency:  The Recovery Act included over $90 billion for clean energy – the largest single clean energy investment in American history. This funding supported programs that created over 224,500 American jobs and tens of thousands of domestic renewable energy projects through programs like the successful “1603” renewable energy grant program – which was successfully extended for a year as part of the December 2010 compromise tax agreement.  Thanks to these concerted efforts, we are on track to double renewable energy generation by 2012.

The Administration has also demonstrated a commitment to efficiency, both in the transportation sector and in the built environment. This includes implementing more rigorous energy efficiency standards for commercial and residential appliances, including microwaves, kitchen ranges, dishwashers, light bulbs and other common appliances, and supporting building retrofits. The Recovery Through Retrofit program is eliminating key barriers in the home retrofit industry and the Better Buildings Initiative for commercial buildings is striving to make this sector 20 percent more efficient by 2020. 

To make sure that companies have time to meet higher safety standards for exploration and drilling with existing leases, the Administration is extending drilling leases in areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were impacted by the temporary moratorium, as well as certain leases off the coast of Alaska.  And, a new interagency working group will help ensure that Arctic development projects meet health, safety and environmental standards.

While the Administration can take these important steps without waiting for Congress to act, there is more that we could do with legislation.  That’s why today, in testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a series of legislative principles that the Administration is calling on Congress to implement in order to further expand timely and safe domestic oil and gas development.   The goals of these legislative principles include: 

• Providing incentives for the prompt development of oil and gas leases, encouraging companies to act on the millions of acres they already have access to but are not currently producing;
• Providing the tools for the federal government to oversee offshore oil and gas development activities on a timely and effective basis, by codifying the unprecedented reforms DOI has put into place to increase safety and environmental oversight;

These priorities expand on the foundation and record this Administration has already put into place – overhauling oversight and improving safety and environmental responsibility while continuing production.  In the year since the tragic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we have raised the bar for safety through the most extensive reforms to offshore oil and gas regulation and oversight in U.S. history.  The changes strengthen requirements for everything from well design and workplace safety to corporate accountability, and are helping both government and industry to ensure that the United States can safely and responsibly expand development of its energy resources to support our economy and our energy security.   

And, despite claims to the contrary, the Administration continues to approve permits that meet these new standards.  To date, 53 new shallow water wells have been permitted since the implementation of new safety and environmental standards on June 8, 2010.  Permits have averaged 6 per month since October 2010.  Since mid-February when industry first demonstrated subsea containment, DOI has approved 34 permits for activities at 14 unique deepwater wells. These numbers not only underscore our commitment to ongoing production, they show that industry can and is meeting these important new standards.

Read more about the Administration’s policies to support safe and responsible domestic oil and gas production from the Department of Interior.

Heather Zichal is Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

Rising prices at the pump affect everybody – workers and farmers; truck drivers and restaurant owners.  Businesses see it impact their bottom line.  Families feel the pinch when they fill up their tank.  For Americans already struggling to get by, it makes life that much harder.  Demand for oil in countries like China and India is only growing, and the price of oil will continue to rise with it. That’s why we need to make ourselves more secure and control our energy future by harnessing all of the resources that we have available and embracing a diverse energy portfolio.

Every president since Richard Nixon has called for America’s independence from oil, but Washington gridlock has prevented action again and again.   If we want to create a more secure energy future, and protect consumers at the pump, that has to change.  When President Obama took office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day.   Today, he pledged that by a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third, and put forward a plan to secure America’s energy future by producing more oil at home and reducing our dependence on oil by leveraging cleaner, alternative fuels and greater efficiency. 

We’ve already made progress toward this goal – last year, America produced more oil than we had in the last seven years.  And we’re taking steps to encourage more offshore oil exploration and production – as long as it’s safe and responsible.   And, because we know we can’t just drill our way out of our energy challenge, we’re reducing our dependence on oil by increasing our production of natural gas and biofuels, and increasing our fuel efficiency.  Last year, we announced ground-breaking fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks that will save consumers thousands of dollars and conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil.

And beyond our efforts to reduce our dependence on oil, we must focus on expanding cleaner sources of electricity, including renewables like wind and solar, as well as clean coal, natural gas, and nuclear power  – keeping America on the cutting edge of clean energy technology so that we can build a 21st century clean energy economy and win the future.

To help us reach these goals, the Obama Administration is releasing a Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future (pdf) – which outlines the comprehensive national energy policy that this Administration has pursued since day one, and the which we will build upon to secure our energy future. The Blueprint is aimed to:

• Develop and secure America’s energy supplies:  We need to deploy American assets, innovation, and technology so that we can safely and responsibly develop more energy here at home and be a leader in the global energy economy.  To get there, we need to:
  • Expand Safe and Responsible Domestic Oil and Gas Development and Production
  • Lead the World Toward Safer and More Secure Energy Supplies

• Provide consumers with choices to reduce costs and save energy:  Volatile gasoline prices reinforce the need for innovation that will make it easier and more affordable for consumers to buy more advanced and fuel-efficient vehicles, use alternative means of transportation, weatherize their homes and workplaces, and in doing so, save money and protect the environment. These measures help families’ pocketbooks, reduce our dependence on finite energy sources and help create good jobs here in the United States.  So, we’re implementing policies that:
  • Reduce Consumers Costs at the Pump with More Efficient Cars and Trucks
  • Cut Energy Bills with More Efficient Homes and Buildings

• Innovate our way to a clean energy future:  Leading the world in clean energy is critical to strengthening the American economy and winning the future.  We can get there by creating markets for innovative clean technologies that are ready to deploy, and by funding cutting-edge research to produce the next generation of technologies.  And as new, better, and more efficient technologies hit the market, the Federal government needs to put words into action and lead by example.  That’s why we need to:
  • Harness America’s Clean Energy Potential so that 80 percent of electricity will come from clean energy sources by 2035
  • Win the future through Clean Energy Research and Development
  • Lead by Example so that the Federal Government models best practices and clean energy technologies

Read the full Blueprint (pdf).

Heather Zichal is Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

The report reaches several important conclusions: first, although the Department of Interior has made available significant acreage for resource development over the past two years, substantial acreage has not been leased by industry. Secondly, there are tens of millions of acres that are currently under lease that remain idle. Because these areas are not undergoing exploration, development, or production, taxpayers are not getting the full advantage of America’s resource potential. When it comes to onshore oil and gas development, nearly 57 percent of all leased acres are inactive – meaning they are neither being explored nor developed.  In total, 22 million leased onshore acres – acres already in the hands of oil and gas companies – are not being used. That’s roughly the size of Indiana.

Use of offshore leases is even more striking. Over 70 percent of the tens of millions of offshore acres under lease are inactive. In the Gulf of Mexico alone, there are nearly 24 million inactive leased acres. That’s about the size of Kentucky. DOI estimates that this area includes approximately 11.6 billion barrels of oil and nearly 60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The numbers speak for themselves:

Onshore

• Acres offered for lease between January 2009 and March 2011: Over 6 million
• Acres leased by companies between January 2009 and March 2011: Fewer than 4 million
• Total acres under lease (as of March 2011):  More than 38 million  
• Total leased acres that are inactive (as of March 2011):  nearly 22 million
• Percent of leased acres that are inactive: 57%

Offshore

• Acres offered for lease in 2010: Nearly 37 million
• Acres leased by companies in 2010: 2.4 million
• Total acres under lease (as of March 2011):  Nearly 38 million
• Total leased acres that are inactive: More than 27.5 million
• Percent of leased acres that are idle (as of March 2011): 70%

Complementing the Administration’s ongoing commitment to safe, responsible, and efficient development and production

It has been less than a year since the largest oil spill in U.S. history. In that time, this Administration has worked aggressively to implement unprecedented new safety and environmental standards that build on the lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Contrary to misleading claims, production has continued. Following the development of important new standards, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has worked with industry to ensure they meet the standards, and as a result has to date issued 39 permits for new shallow water wells.  In February, oil companies were finally able to develop the first deepwater containment systems – designed to contain spills if the worst happens, as it did in the case of the Deepwater Horizon. Based on that ability – evaluated on a case-by-case, permit-by-permit basis –since February 28th, DOI has issued seven deepwater drilling permits for six unique wells. Each permit needed to comply with all of the new standards, including demonstrating that they could contain an underwater oil spill like the one that released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico just last year. This is in addition to the 28 deepwater permits that have been approved for types of activities, such as water injection wells and drilling from a fixed rig with a surface BOP, that were allowed under the moratorium.

Onshore permitting continues at a consistent pace, with 5,237 permits issued last year.   In fact,  in the last two years onshore permit applications have been processed at a faster rate than they have been received – decreasing the backlog of applications.

It has been less than a year since the largest oil spill in U.S. history. In that time, this Administration has worked aggressively to implement unprecedented new safety and environmental standards that build on the lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Contrary to misleading claims, production has continued. Following the development of important new standards, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has worked with industry to ensure they meet the standards, and as a result has to date issued 39 permits for new shallow water wells.  In February, oil companies were finally able to develop the first deepwater containment systems – designed to contain spills if the worst happens, as it did in the case of the Deepwater Horizon. Based on that ability – evaluated on a case-by-case, permit-by-permit basis –since February 28th, DOI has issued six deepwater drilling permits. Each permit needed to comply with all of the new standards, including demonstrating that they could contain an underwater oil spill like the one that released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico just last year.

DOI is also taking a range of other steps to encourage domestic offshore production, immediately and over the longer term.  In fact, just last Monday, the agency approved the first deepwater exploration plan since new standards were put into place – a step that was applauded by industry and not only shows the industry’s ability to meet important standards, but will result in the opportunity for additional deepwater drilling permits.

These efforts also are bolstered by the responsible production that DOI is overseeing on onshore public lands as well. In 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held 33 oil and gas lease sales covering 3.2 million acres, and processed more than 5,000 applications for permits to drill (APD) on Federal and Indian lands. In 2011, BLM is scheduled to hold an additional 33 lease sales, and the bureau expects to process more than 7,200 APDs.  

Of course production is not just about federal action, industry needs to do their part, not only taking the necessary steps to develop and produce responsibly, but ensure they use the leases they have. Currently, just 45 percent of all onshore leases are actively producing, and less than 30 percent of the millions of acres under offshore leases are producing. That is why the administration is also taking steps to provide additional incentives for industry to develop oil and gas supplies from the leases that already are in their hands.

This Administration will continue to take concrete and immediate steps to support responsible domestic production, as well as expand our energy portfolio to increase clean energy sources and invest in efficiency across the board.  As the President said on March 11, “any notion that my administration has shut down oil production might make for a good political sound bite, but it doesn’t match up with reality.”

One area where we have focused our efforts since the start of the administration – long before this current spike – is increasing responsible domestic energy production – including oil and gas. In fact, oil production last year rose to its highest level since 2003. From 2008 to 2010, oil production from the Outer Continental Shelf increased more than a third – from 446 million barrels in 2008 to an more than 600 million barrels of estimated production in 2010.

Source: EIA

Onshore, responsible oil production from public lands has also increased over the last year, from 109 million barrels in 2009 to 114 million barrels in 2010.

Of course, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill served as a reminder that we must develop our domestic energy resources both safely and responsibly. That is why the Administration developed important new safety standards that increase oversight and build on the lessons learned from the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Since these important new standards were put into place last summer, we have approved more than 35 shallow water permits, and just last week we approved the first deepwater permit to meet new standards – including the ability to demonstrate the ability to contain a sub-sea oil spill.  We have also approved more than 20 deepwater permits for activity that was not subject to the deepwater drilling suspensions, but represent increased jobs and production.

Beyond domestic oil and gas development, this Administration has also taken unprecedented action to reduce our long-term dependence on oil by investing in a clean energy economy. The historic fuel standards agreement for cars and trucks will save Americans money at the pump and reduce oil consumption by 1.8 billion barrels. And the Clean Energy Standard announced by the President in the State of the Union set an ambitious goal of increasing our clean energy share to 80% by 2035, and using a broad array of energy sources to get there. We are not picking winners and losers – our focus is on providing industry and utilities with the flexibility to make their own decisions regarding the best way to increase their clean energy share.

The Administration will continue to monitor oil prices and work to protect consumers, increase responsible production of domestic energy resources, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and ultimately build a clean energy economy in the United States.

According to the study, the direct benefits of the Clean Air Act – in the form of cleaner air and healthier, more productive Americans – are estimated to reach nearly $2 trillion in the year 2020, exceeding the costs by a factor of more than 30 to one.  But this report also reminds us that the common sense provisions under the Clean Air Act are about more than economics – they are ultimately about the health of our families.

According to the report, in 2010 alone, the reductions in fine particle and ozone pollution from the Clean Air Act prevented more than:

• 160,000 premature deaths
• 130,000 heart attacks
• 13 million lost work days
• 1.7 million asthma attacks

This report puts to rest the old argument that we can’t have a healthy economy and a healthy environment – and serves as an important reminder of the need to protect the Clean Air Act from attacks. For decades, it has brought cleaner air to our children and avoided billions in health care costs.  And we need a strong Act to protect our children’s children for decades to come.