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

  • VA Goes Green

    Posted by Brandon Friedman on October 6, 2009 at 5:16 PM EDT

    "Wow. These are some fancy handouts."
    We were in a meeting and VA Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth was flipping through a full-color PowerPoint presentation that had been neatly packaged in a professionally prepared folder. The one in her hands had probably cost five or six dollars to create. Content aside, I could tell it bothered her.
    "You know, you guys didn’t need to go to all this trouble to put these together," she said to the presenters. "I'm okay with simple black and white handouts next time." Then she added: "And by the way, everything around here needs to be printed on both sides of the paper. None of this one-sided stuff. It’s just a waste."
    And that was my introduction to VA's culture—what eventually became the department's "Green Routine" Initiative this month. At the Department of Veterans Affairs, it’s not that we're neurotic, or that we value such attention to detail at the expense of more important, core issues for the department—like healthcare for veterans, the GI Bill, or remaining on the cutting edge of research. The fact is that during a transformative process—like the one now occurring at VA—you have to pay attention to every last detail. That's how effective organizations run—from the military, to private companies, to federal agencies. Whether it's in how you treat student-Veterans when their GI Bill checks are late, how you distinguish between PTSD and a personality disorder, or how you run a top-tier organization that doesn't waste—it's all about being conscientious to what’s going on around us. And at VA, the leadership is committed to that level of detail in everything we do.
    So to kick off Energy Awareness Month at the Department of Veterans Affairs this week, Secretary Shinseki announced the "Green Routine" campaign. The premise is simple enough: It's a campaign designed to increase awareness among VA employees of their environmental impact as individuals and as members of the federal government. 
    To make that happen, we’ve got a new web site devoted to environmental tips at www.va.gov/greenroutine. Along with a video from VA's Chief of Staff, the site includes tips on how employees can "green" their workplaces. It also contains a reference tool for managers and employees entitled the Greening Action Guide and Toolkit which recommends actions such as selecting a "green champion" in each office to help promote environmentally friendly steps like holding electronic meetings without paper handouts, turning off cubicle lights when not in use, unplugging cell phone chargers, recycling printer cartridges, and, of course, printing on both sides of the paper.
    I'll be the first to admit, when I watched Assistant Secretary Duckworth's blooming irritation at the unnatural celebration of corporatism in the form of a lavish PowerPoint handout, I found it interesting. But at the time, that was about as far as it went for me. Being my first week on the job, I didn't realize that that's just the way we were going to do things from now on at VA. But now I know.
    Reducing our carbon footprint and providing the highest quality care and services to our Veterans and their families are not mutually exclusive tasks. In fact, the thing they have in common is what will ultimately set this department apart: And that's an attention to detail in every single aspect of how we do our jobs here—from the office to the operating room.
    The Department of Veterans Affairs is clearly not an organization without its faults. But with the leadership we now have in place, the department is on a path toward efficiency in everything we do. And that ultimately means the best possible care for our Veterans and their families.
    Brandon Friedman is the Director of New Media at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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  • Leading the Way in Sustainability

    Posted by Nancy Sutley on October 5, 2009 at 7:02 PM EDT

    This morning, I was proud to gather with a group of cabinet secretaries and other senior officials as President Obama signed a new Executive Order on Federal Sustainability. The Executive Order challenges agencies to lead by example in energy and environmental performance and gives them 90 days to set a 2020 greenhouse reduction goal. It also sets targets for efficient, sustainable buildings, petroleum use reduction in fleets, water efficiency, waste reduction, purchasing green technologies and product, and supporting sustainable communities.
    By fulfilling this Executive Order, the Federal government will demonstrate that economic performance and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand. And by putting Federal purchasing power to work – more than $500 billion per year in goods and services – the government can build on the momentum of the Recovery Act to help turn good entrepreneurial ideas into great American enterprises that create jobs.
    I’m sure I speak for everyone who’s been a part of this effort when I say that we’re ready to put these ideas into practice, starting today.
    President Barack Obama participates in the CEQ Executive Order signing in the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)President Barack Obama  participates in the CEQ Executive Order signing in the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
    Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.

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  • What Science Is Telling Us About The Climate-Change Challenge

    Posted by John P. Holdren on September 29, 2009 at 10:25 AM EDT

    Climate is changing all across the globe. The air and the oceans are warming, mountain glaciers are disappearing, sea ice is shrinking, the great ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica are slipping, and sea level is rising. And the consequences for human well-being are already being felt: more heat waves, floods, droughts, and wildfires; tropical diseases reaching into the temperate zones; and coastal property increasingly at risk from the surging seas.
    All this is happening faster than was expected. Sea level is rising at twice the average rate for the 20th century. The coverage and thickness of the sea ice in the Arctic at its summer minimum have been shrinking at a pace far faster than the projections of just a few years ago. The average area burned by wildfires in the Western United States annually has increased four-fold in the past 30 years.
    We know the primary cause of these perils – it is the emission of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants from our factories, our vehicles, and our power plants, and from land clearing. We also know that failure to curb these emissions will bring far bigger impacts in the future than those experienced so far.
    But we also know what we can and must do to avoid the worst. We must work together – East and West, North and South – to transform our energy technologies from polluting and wasteful to clean and efficient. We must create new incentives and agreements to accelerate this transformation and to reduce deforestation and other destructive land-use change around the world. And we must invest in adaptation, to reduce our vulnerability to the degree of climate change that can no longer be avoided.
    We can do this together. And when we do, we will benefit not only by avoiding the worst damages from climate change, but also by reducing our dangerous overdependence on petroleum, alleviating the air pollution that afflicts our cities, preserving our forests as havens for biodiversity and sources of sustainable livelihoods, and unleashing a new wave of technological innovation – generating new businesses, new jobs, and new growth in the course of creating the clean and efficient energy systems of the future.
    How aggressive must these efforts be? The science is increasingly clear that holding the global average temperature increase to no more than 2 degrees Celsius is likely to be essential for keeping climate change to a manageable level. It is likewise clear that having a good chance of meeting this goal requires that global emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants should level off by about 2020 and shrink thereafter to something like 50 percent of the current levels by 2050, with continuing declines after that. Economic and political realities, including recognition that emissions from the industrialized countries have caused the largest part of the problem up until now, suggest that the United States and other industrial nations should take the lead in this effort, reducing our emissions to well below current levels by 2020.
    President Obama understands this challenge with crystal clarity, and under his leadership the United States is moving rapidly to do what is required to meet it. The Recovery Act has provided the largest boost in history in Federal support for research, development, demonstration, and deployment of clean and efficient energy technologies. New cooperative efforts to help developing countries move in this direction have been launched. And, most importantly, the Administration is working with Congress to get comprehensive energy-climate legislation that, by rewarding energy options that don't harm the climate, will unleash American ingenuity to tackle this challenge in ways that will create jobs and help drive economic recovery while showing the whole world the way toward a climate we can live with.
    John P. Holdren is Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
     

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  • Weekly Address: Progress with the G20 in Pittsburgh

    Posted by Jesse Lee on September 26, 2009 at 12:30 AM EDT

    Recorded literally on his way back from the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the President uses his Weekly Address to recap the progress made during the intensive discussions with world leaders. From an historic agreement to reform the global financial system, to groundbreaking commitments on reducing subsidies to fossil fuels worldwide, to unity in standing against threats to world peace -- engagement produced tangible results in several areas.
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    download .mp3 |download .mp4 (79 MB) | read the transcript

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  • The Task Force in the Ocean State

    Posted by Nancy Sutley on September 25, 2009 at 5:00 PM EDT

    After a very successful couple days in Rhode Island with members of the Ocean Policy Task Force, I am heading back to Washington. The public meeting went very well, with a few hundred people turning out for the event and a wide variety of ocean issues raised. In addition to those who joined us in person, many more chose to watch online or listen by phone. Holding these meetings has provided us with an invaluable perspective on the regions and all of the comments will be taken into consideration as we draft these final recommendations to President Obama.
    Today in Rhode Island we visited the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge and The Coastal Institute, which provided a wonderful opportunity for us to learn even more about the challenges and opportunities in the ocean and coastal areas along the East Coast.
    I would like to give a special thanks to the other members and representatives of the Task Force who traveled to Rhode Island including NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Vice Admiral David P. Pekoske of the U.S. Coast Guard, Laura Davis from the Department of the Interior, Ira Leighton from the Environmental Protection Agency, and Dr. Sharon Hrynkow from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.
    The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force is still taking public comments and look forward to our upcoming events in the Pacific Islands on September 29, and in Cleveland and New Orleans in October.
    Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality
     

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  • "Real Change is Possible"

    Posted by Jesse Lee on September 23, 2009 at 1:23 PM EDT

    In this morning's speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama covered a range of topics—all under the umbrella of his desire for leaders to recognize the "common future" of a world in which "the interests of peoples and nations are shared."
    Read the translations in: Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Russian, and Spanish.
    President Barack Obama addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York
    (President Barack Obama addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York, Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Official White House photo by Samantha Appleton.)

    He took the opportunity to reflect upon his first nine months in office, highlighting his administration's priorities and looking forward to challenges ahead:
    On my first day in office, I prohibited – without exception or equivocation – the use of torture by the United States of America. (Applause.) I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.
    We have set a clear and focused goal: to work with all members of this body to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies – a network that has killed thousands of people of many faiths and nations, and that plotted to blow up this very building. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, we and many nations here are helping these governments develop the capacity to take the lead in this effort, while working to advance opportunity and security for their people.
    In Iraq, we are responsibly ending a war. We have removed American combat brigades from Iraqi cities, and set a deadline of next August to remove all our combat brigades from Iraqi territory. And I have made clear that we will help Iraqis transition to full responsibility for their future, and keep our commitment to remove all American troops by the end of 2011.
    I have outlined a comprehensive agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. In Moscow, the United States and Russia announced that we would pursue substantial reductions in our strategic warheads and launchers. At the Conference on Disarmament, we agreed on a work plan to negotiate an end to the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. And this week, my Secretary of State will become the first senior American representative to the annual Members Conference of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
    Upon taking office, I appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and America has worked steadily and aggressively to advance the cause of two states – Israel and Palestine – in which peace and security take root, and the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians are respected.
    To confront climate change, we have invested $80 billion in clean energy. We have substantially increased our fuel-efficiency standards. We have provided new incentives for conservation, launched an energy partnership across the Americas, and moved from a bystander to a leader in international climate negotiations.
    To overcome an economic crisis that touches every corner of the world, we worked with the G20 nations to forge a coordinated international response of over $2 trillion in stimulus to bring the global economy back from the brink. We mobilized resources that helped prevent the crisis from spreading further to developing countries. And we joined with others to launch a $20 billion global food security initiative that will lend a hand to those who need it most, and help them build their own capacity.
    We've also re-engaged the United Nations. We have paid our bills. We have joined the Human Rights Council. (Applause.) We have signed the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have fully embraced the Millennium Development Goals. And we address our priorities here, in this institution – for instance, through the Security Council meeting that I will chair tomorrow on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and through the issues that I will discuss today.
    This is what we have already done. But this is just a beginning. Some of our actions have yielded progress. Some have laid the groundwork for progress in the future. But make no mistake: This cannot solely be America's endeavor. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone. We have sought – in word and deed – a new era of engagement with the world. And now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.
    The President also outlined the "Four Pillars" he believes are "fundamental to the future that we want for our children": "non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people."
    President Barack Obama addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York
    (President Barack Obama addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York, Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Official White House photo by Samantha Appleton.)
    In closing, the President offered a fresh take on the crucial choice that faces the international body:
    In short, the United Nations can be an institution that is disconnected from what matters in the lives of our citizens, or it can be an indispensable factor in advancing the interests of the people we serve.
    We have reached a pivotal moment. The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation – one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations. And so, with confidence in our cause, and with a commitment to our values, we call on all nations to join us in building the future that our people so richly deserve.
     

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