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

  • The Clean Air Act: Protecting Our Families and the Air We Breathe

    Posted by Heather Zichal on March 1, 2011 at 7:00 PM EDT

    Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report estimating the economic, environmental and health benefits of the Clean Air Act over the period 1990 to 2020. This report, which is designed to provide Congress and the public with comprehensive, updated, and peer-reviewed information on the Act’s costs and benefits, reaches a clear conclusion: the Clean Air Act has been an incredible investment for America.

    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.

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  • Investing in Tomorrow, Creating Jobs Today

    Posted by Secretary Ray LaHood on March 1, 2011 at 2:25 PM EDT

    Cross-posted from the Department of Transportation blog.

    Today, I want to share a terrific new video, called "Transporting America: Proterra," which tells the story of Proterra, Inc, an electric bus manufacturer in Greenville, South Carolina. Thanks to federal investment, this company has been able to develop incredible zero-emissions transit buses and add hundreds of new jobs in South Carolina.

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    Last month Deputy Secretary John Porcari penned a blog for us on "Good, Green Jobs."  He wrote that, "We know Americans can adopt environmentally friendly practices and create good jobs in the process."

    Nowhere is that demonstrated more clearly than in Greenville, South Carolina, where Proterra, Inc, has begun manufacturing electric transit buses. More important to the Greenville community is the fact that Proterra has hired more than 120 workers, with plans to reach up to 350 workers by the end of this year and more than 1,300 by 2015.

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  • Join Us in Continuing the Conversation on America’s Great Outdoors

    Posted by Nancy Sutley on February 28, 2011 at 12:09 PM EDT

    Last week, President Barack Obama announced the Administration’s action plan, under the America's Great Outdoors initiative, to achieve lasting conservation of the outdoor spaces that power our nation’s economy, shape our culture, and build our outdoor traditions. This initiative seeks to reinvigorate our approach to conservation and reconnect Americans, especially young people, with the lands and waters that are used for farming and ranching, hunting and fishing, and for families to spend quality time together.  Recognizing that many of these places and resources are under intense pressure, the President established the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative last April to work with the American people in developing a conservation and recreation agenda that makes sense for the 21st century.

    This report is the product of 51 listening sessions across the nation—21 specifically with young people—consisting of more than 10,000 participants spanning all ages and backgrounds, plus more than 100,000 comments from citizens across the nation sharing with us your priorities for the lands and waters that you know best. We built this plan with your input and your involvement doesn't stop there.

    On March 3, 2011, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and I will continue the conversation by hosting the first America’s Great Outdoors live chat.  You can join by video before the chat or by Facebook during the chat.  You can post your YouTube video questions by responding to the video above, or by sending your questions to policyoutreach@ceq.eop.gov.  To submit by Facebook during the live chat, sign on to our Facebook chat application on Thursday March 3rd at 4:30 pm (EST).

    We look forward to talking to you!

    Nancy Sutley is Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality

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  • Kicking Off the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit: Where Innovations in Energy Technology Are “Winning the Future”

    Posted by Dr. Arun Majumdar on February 28, 2011 at 11:46 AM EDT

    Cross-posted from the Department of Energy blog.

    President Obama has recently been talking about his plan to “Win the Future.” Whether it’s taking steps to reform our education system, rebuilding our infrastructure, or encouraging breakthroughs in technology, the phrase is about marshaling the country’s best and brightest to solve today’s problems. As the President put it, “To win the future, we have to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world, tapping the creativity and imagination of our people."

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    The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit that kicks off today just outside of Washington, D.C. highlights the amazing ingenuity of our citizens and businesses. This annual summit showcases the most advanced and revolutionary breakthroughs in energy technology today. These aren’t base hits. They’re the potential home runs – the breakthroughs in clean energy innovation that could make it affordable to put solar panels on every house in America, put millions of electric vehicles on the road or even harness wind energy that’s miles and miles above the ground a lot sooner than you might think is possible. We’re talking about truly changing the world – and making the U.S. the global leader in clean energy technologies.

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  • Weekly Address: Traveling the Country, Winning the Future

    Posted by Jesse Lee on February 26, 2011 at 6:30 AM EDT

    The President discusses his recent travels and the examples he’s seen of how America can win the future. He urges Congress to heed these examples in the coming budget debate and to tighten our belts without eliminating investments in innovation, education and infrastructure.

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  • Weekly Wrap Up: Working with Small Business

    Posted by Kori Schulman on February 25, 2011 at 7:27 PM EDT

    Take quick look at the week of February 21, 2011:
     
    Small Business Forum: President Obama travels to Cleveland, Ohio, to visit the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business. He met with dozens of small business leaders, and even stopped by a live online chat with Austan Goolsbee to answer your questions. Also, SBA Administrator Karen Mills chaired a breakout session on entrepreneurship.
     
    Behind-the-Scenes Video: President Obama hosts a screening of Thurgood at the White House movie theater -- an HBO film about the life and career of Thurgood Marshall, the remarkable Civil Rights lawyer and the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.
    Download Video: mp4 (27.3MB) | ()

    Turmoil in Libya: President Obama says the violence in Libya is "outrageous" and "unacceptable," and that his Administration is looking at the "full range of options we have to respond to this crisis." Watch the video.

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