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

  • Follow Up: White House Forum on Clean Energy Manufacturing

    Posted by Secretary Gary Locke on July 22, 2010 at 1:55 PM EDT

    Ed Note: Last Friday, Secretary Locke kicked off a Clean Energy Economy Forum on clean energy manufacturing at the White House. You can watch the video of the opening remarks below and the videos of the first and second panels on YouTube.

    Last Friday, I joined Obama administration colleagues and business leaders from across the country to participate in a forum on clean energy innovation at the White House. I told the group that the development of clean energy and energy efficient technologies could spur the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century. That's a sentiment shared by President Obama, as well as many leaders attending Friday’s clean energy forum. But for all this promise, the overwhelming consensus among forum members was that we’ve got to do more to scale up America’s clean energy industry.

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  • Clean Energy Economy Forum on Federal Leaders and Sustainable Building

    Posted by Michelle Moore on July 21, 2010 at 5:41 PM EDT


     

    Yesterday, more than 120 leaders in the commercial building community came together with Federal officials at a White House Clean Energy Economy Forum to discuss the role of Federal leadership in sustainable building. White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, General Services Administration Administrator Martha Johnson, and Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims got a conversation started that focused on three key topics: leveraging the scale, financing, and innovation.

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  • Clean Energy Ministerial: Join the Discussion

    Posted by David Sandalow on July 20, 2010 at 12:05 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the brand new Energy Blog.  Also check out the Department of Energy's new Facebook and Twitter accounts launched today.

    Today marks the second and final day of the world’s first Clean Energy Ministerial. We want you to be part of it. That’s why we’re webcasting all of today’s proceedings as they happen, so you can observe and weigh in on the discussion. Watch it live from 10am to 5pm today. As you watch, we invite you to submit your questions and comments directly via:

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  • Final Recommendations of the Ocean Policy Task Force Announced

    Posted by Phil Larson on July 19, 2010 at 2:23 PM EDT

    Obama Administration officials today released the Final Recommendations of the Ocean Policy Task Force, which would establish a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes (National Policy) and create a National Ocean Council (NOC) to strengthen ocean governance and coordination. The Final Recommendations prioritize actions for the NOC to pursue, and call for a flexible framework for coastal and marine spatial planning to address conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable use of the ocean, our coasts and the Great Lakes.

    Dr. John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, lauded the policy as a significant step towards securing the sustained well-being of America’s waters and coastal regions.

    “A National Ocean Policy reflects and affirms the invaluable role that science plays in the stewardship of these cherished resources,” said Dr. Holdren. “The work of the National Ocean Council will ensure that future generations of Americans are able to reap the immeasurable and undeniable benefits of healthy ocean, coastal, and Great Lake ecosystems.”

    Head over to the Council on Environmental Quality to see the full press release.

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  • Electric Drive Components Made in Vermont

    Posted by Jess Maher and Kira Mesdag on July 16, 2010 at 9:12 PM EDT

    Today, CEQ staff traveled to SBE Inc. in Barre, Vermont, where a $9.1 million Recovery Act grant is helping the company build a new electric drive component factory.   As we toured the construction site with the company leadership, it truly felt as though we were witnessing a brand new American industry rising from the ground.  We were happy to be joined by Governor Douglas and representatives from the Vermont delegation as well as members of the community who have been involved in this project since the April 2010 groundbreaking.

    SBE Inc

    Tim Wheelock, a manufacturer at work at SBE Inc.

    The SBE grant is a great example of what the Recovery Act is doing for American communities.  Before they received it, SBE was planning to build its plant in China.  Now, this American company is going to manufacture its state-of-the-art battery components here, in America. That means that not only is the company helping build a home-grown clean-energy industry -- it is also creating or saving more than 100 Vermont jobs over the next three years. 

    We were inspired and encouraged by what we saw at SBE Inc. and look forward to the day when we can peer inside a plug-in hybrid or electric car and find a battery part that reads “Made in the USA.”

    Jess Maher and Kira Mesdag work at the White House Council on Environmental Quality

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  • President Obama Gives an Update on the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf

    Posted by Jesse Lee on July 16, 2010 at 11:21 AM EDT

    Read the Transcript  |  Download Video: mp4 (68MB) | mp3 (7MB)

    This morning the President spoke on the news from the Gulf, emphasizing that while there may be good news, the work is not done containing the leak, and will not be until the relief wells are finished and functioning.  After his opening remarks where he explained exactly what is happening, he was asked what his message for the people in the Gulf region would be:

    Well, I would expect that sometime in the next several weeks I’ll be back down.  What we’re trying to do right now is to make sure that the technical folks on the ground are making the best possible decisions to shut this well down as quickly as possible, that we’re standing up the fund so that people are compensated quickly.  I’m staying in touch each and every day, monitoring the progress and getting briefed by the scientists. 

    The key here right now is for us to make decisions based on science, based on what’s best for the people of the Gulf -- not based on PR, not based on politics.  And that’s part of the reason why I wanted to speak this morning, because I know that there were a lot of reports coming out in the media that seemed to indicate, well, maybe this thing is done.  We won’t be done until we actually know that we’ve killed the well and that we have a permanent solution in place.  We’re moving in that direction, but I don’t want us to get too far ahead of ourselves.

    His opening remarks with a little more detail below:

    Includes Video
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