Energy, Climate Change,
and Our Environment

The President has taken unprecedented action to build the foundation for a clean energy economy, tackle the issue of climate change, and protect our environment.

Energy and Environment Latest News

  • Connecting with Each Other, Connecting with our Great Outdoors

    Posted by Amy Salzman on April 18, 2011 at 8:35 AM EDT

    As the snowy chill of winter slowly melts into spring, our thoughts drift toward getting outdoors.  From the cherry blossoms awakening in our nation’s capital to the trees and  greening of grasslands and forests across the country, we are reminded of the farms, waters, parks, woodlands, and extraordinary landscapes that renew us and have shaped our national heritage. 

    This natural bounty come with responsibility.  Responding to modern threats to our open spaces, working lands and waters and streams demands thoughtful care and responsible stewardship.  And in a nation as large and diverse as ours, this responsibility falls on all of us.  That is why President Obama launched the America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative, a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda designed hand in hand with the American people.

    As part of this initiative, we have established the America’s Great Outdoors Council to foster collaboration across federal government agencies and to assure the robust and coordinated, multi-year implementation of our action plan.  At our first meeting, the Council discussed ways in which the Federal government can be a more effective conservation partner to help to achieve our conservation and recreation goals by empowering communities and other partners to achieve our conservation and recreation goals; to engage with youth about conservation and recreation; and to create green jobs.  To keep our nation's youth in touch with our outdoor traditions, we will join hands with the First Lady’s Let's Move Initiative, a campaign to end childhood obesity in the United States by keeping our kids active and healthy.

    As you can see from AGO Council members' comments below, we’re already working to achieve AGO's conservation and recreation agenda that will also help to support sustainable, healthy communities across America.

    Nadine Gracia, Chief Medical Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

    "Outdoor recreation plays an important role in the physical and mental health and well-being of people of all ages. By redoubling our efforts to improve physical activity opportunities in communities through safe and accessible parks and playgrounds, we will increase opportunities for all Americans, especially our youth, to experience the great outdoors."

    James Lopez, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Deparment of Housing and Urban Development

    "Part of HUD's core mission is to help build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination.  Availability of community green spaces is vital to the sustainability equation. Working with our partners both inside the Federal government and across the nation, we look forward to helping connect all Americans to the great outdoors for generations to come."

    Asim Mishra, Deputy Chief of Staff, Corporation for National and Community Service

    "The Corporation for National and Community Service hopes to connect all Americans to the great outdoors through volunteerism and national service. Through CNCS programs -- like AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps), AmeriCorps VISTA, Learn and Serve America, and Senior Corps -- and by finding, creating, and listing volunteer opportunities online on www.serve.gov, Americans can serve in urban and rural communities to preserve and improve our public lands and waterways."

    From our children who spend afternoons playing in our parks to the farmers who depend on our working lands, we are joining together with common purpose.  As we continue to work on AGO, we look forward to ongoing conversations with the American people to ensure that we continue to connect with one another to foster the best ideas to protect and enjoy our nation’s treasured spaces for generations to come.

    Amy Salzman is Associate Director for Policy Outreach at the Council on Environmental Quality and is a member of the AGO Council's steering committee

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  • Weekly Wrap Up: The Country We Believe In

    Posted by Paul Wiley on April 15, 2011 at 5:52 PM EDT

    Your quick look at the week that was on WhiteHouse.gov.

    Read the Transcript  |  Download Video: mp4 (417MB) | mp3 (40MB)

    America's Fiscal Future: On Wednesday, President Obama spoke at the George Washington University about his plan to control spending while staying true to America's values of shared prosperity and shared responsibility. After his speech, economic advisor Brian Deese answered your questions in a live video chat. The President's focus on fiscal policy continued as he met with bipartisan leaders from the House and Senate, and with the co-chairs of his fiscal commission.

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  • Building a Greener Tomorrow

    Posted by Kimberly Lewis on April 15, 2011 at 5:04 PM EDT

    I will never forget the tremendous opportunity and privilege afforded to me last week as I was invited to be part of the Champions of Change roundtable – not just because it was a thrill to be at the White House as part of a national celebration of every individual’s ability to drive meaningful, positive change, but because of the deep honor of representing my brothers and sisters in the green building movement.

    Every year, at the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the passionate thinkers and doers who make up the green building community gather for what I think of as our tent revival. You’ve never seen an industry conference so fundamentally based on passion for doing what’s right – what’s right for our environment, for our underserved communities, for our global economy, and for our children and their children. Green building is good business – because it’s not business as usual. I’m so delighted that the President and his Administration recognize the green building community as the agents of change they are.

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  • Window to An Energy Efficient Future

    Posted by Chris Simpson on April 15, 2011 at 1:55 PM EDT

    Last Friday I was able to represent the more than 8,000 team-members of Pella Windows and Doors, at a stimulating roundtable exchange as part of the White House’s Champion of Change series. The session featured a sharing of accomplishments and ideas focused on improving America’s energy position. Despite the potential threat of a government shutdown, the session was led by Michelle Moore, the Federal Environmental Executive, Council of Environmental Quality, and attended by several high-ranking leaders of various government agencies concerned about sustainability and clean energy.

    As an industry leader in sustainability and innovation, Pella was selected to participate in large part because of our significant efforts in investing in technology and bringing highly energy efficient windows and doors to the residential and commercial markets. Pella is proud to be an ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence winner the past three years and also an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year each of the past five years; a feat unmatched in our industry.

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  • Training Workers of Today for the Clean Energy Jobs of Tomorrow

    Posted by Jon Boggiano on April 14, 2011 at 4:54 PM EDT

    This past Friday, I attended the White House Champions of Change roundtable. This roundtable impressed upon me breadth and vitality of the growing clean energy/energy efficient economy. In attendance were local government and private sector business leaders (the Champions of Change) as well as White House and Department of Energy officials (also Champions of Change). I enjoyed hearing participants share their accomplishments which included retooling a decades old manufacturer, implementing local government sustainability projects, and developing a thriving home energy retrofit business.

    I shared the success that we have had at Everblue by training tens of thousands of students from small businesses through Fortune 500 companies. I firmly believe that quality education and clean energy are both essential American security issues. As a veteran owned business, our focus is on providing practical and valuable education that helps grow America’s sustainable workforce. Many of our students have gone from unemployed to employed, successfully started small businesses and grown existing ones, changed careers, developed new products, and implemented large scale corporate social responsibility programs. Every day, we see the private sectors commitment to sustainability and I was excited to hear how the administration plans to leverage the private sector as a partner to rapidly grow America’s green economy.

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  • Champions of Change: Harnessing the Power of Community and Clean Energy

    Posted by Will Byrne on April 13, 2011 at 11:50 AM EDT

    This past Friday, I was honored with a Champions of Change award, allowing me to join a conversation between Administration officials and community leaders from around the country to discuss new solutions we are implementing toward a new clean energy economy.

    As I heard from the incredible pioneers around me, two things were resoundingly clear:

    First, the clean energy economy has extraordinary potential to bring new opportunity and prosperity to America. Second, this new wave of innovation, just as the major economic transformations the United States of the past, is going to be driven by the home-grown ingenuity and entrepreneurship of our local communities.

    The organization I helped to found a few years ago, The DC Project, was built to realize this vision of a bottom up transformation of the clean economy. By working alongside communities to make sensible energy choices, we help everyday people to improve their own lives while also ramping up demand for clean energy services.  Harnessing the power of community in this way, we not only unlock the local clean energy marketplace, but also ensure that its benefits, especially new jobs, are tied to the community.

    Here in DC we’ve applied this model around building energy retrofits through our WeatherizeDC program, and we’ve seen an incredible transformation - creating living-wage jobs for local residents, sweeping energy savings, and local green business growth.

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