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

  • Weekly Address: Two Pillars of a New Foundation

    Posted by Jesse Lee on May 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM EDT

    This week the President discusses breakthroughs on two issues where stakeholders from all sides, who once opposed each other, are coming together for real reform. On health care and energy, solutions would provide key pillars for a new foundation for the country.
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    download .mp3 or .mp4 (53.8 Mb)  |  also available here  |  read transcript

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  • OMB Director Orszag Corrects the Record on the OMB & EPA

    Posted by Jesse Lee on May 12, 2009 at 4:31 PM EDT

    In a post entitled "Clearing the Air":
    Media reports today are suggesting that OMB has found fault with EPA’s proposed finding that emissions of greenhouse gases from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that endangers public health and welfare.  Any reports suggesting that OMB was opposed to the finding are unfounded.

    The quotations circulating in the press are from a document in which OMB simply collated and collected disparate comments from various agencies during the inter-agency review process of the proposed finding.   These collected comments were not necessarily internally consistent, since they came from multiple sources, and they do not necessarily represent the views of either OMB or the Administration.  In other words, we simply receive comments from various agencies and pass them along to EPA for consideration, regardless of the substantive merit of those comments.  In general, passing along these types of comments to an agency proposing a finding often helps to improve the quality of the notice.

    Perhaps more importantly, OMB concluded review of the preliminary finding several weeks ago, which then allowed EPA to move forward with the proposed finding.   As I wrote on this blog on April 17, the "proposed finding is carefully rooted in both law and science."  I also noted: "By itself, the EPA’s proposed finding imposes no regulation.  (Indeed, by itself, it requires nothing at all.)  If and when the endangerment finding is made final, the EPA will turn to the question whether and how to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new automobiles." 

    The bottom line is that OMB would have not concluded review, which allows the finding to move forward, if we had concerns about whether EPA’s finding was consistent with either the law or the underlying science.  The press reports to the contrary are simply false.

    Yet another reason to check Director Orszag’s blog regularly.

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  • Delivering on Change, an Inside Look

    Posted by Jesse Lee on April 28, 2009 at 9:15 PM EDT

    Pete Souza and the White House Photo Office bring us an exclusive, massive, unique look at the President’s term so far.  Take a few minutes to get a different perspective from the images on television every day.

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  • Countdown to Earth Day: EPA Photo and Video Projects

    Posted by Jesse Lee on April 15, 2009 at 6:44 PM EDT

    We mentioned once before that the EPA is collecting videos and photos in honor of Earth Day, so for the next week we'll pick one we happen to like to tease you with here on WhiteHouse.gov.  For starters, here's "Valley View Farm Sunset 2008," courtesy of user Goddess of Green:
     
    Think you can beat that? Head over to the Photo Project.

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  • "Protecting That Which Fuels Our Spirit"

    Posted by Jesse Lee on March 30, 2009 at 8:06 PM EDT

    This afternoon President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, one of the most sweeping pieces of conservation and public land management legislation in years.
    Interior Secretary Ken Salazar joined the President, and spoke eloquently:
    Over the last two centuries, America’s best ideas for protecting our vast lands and open spaces have often arrived while our country has faced its greatest trials.

    It was in the midst of our nation’s bloodiest conflict – the Civil War – that President Abraham Lincoln set aside the lands that are now Yosemite National Park.

    It was at the dawn of the 20th century, with our cities and industries growing and our open lands and watersheds disappearing, that President Teddy Roosevelt expanded our national parks and set aside the world’s largest system of lands dedicated to wildlife conservation, the national wildlife refuge system.

    And it was in the darkest days of the Great Depression that President Franklin Roosevelt put three million young Americans to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps.  They built the trails, campgrounds, parks, and conservation projects we enjoy today.

    In these moments when our national character is most tested we rightly seek to protect that which fuels our spirit.  

    For America’s national character - our optimism, our dreams, our shared stories – are rooted in our landscapes.

    The President echoed his sentiments:
    As Americans, we possess few blessings greater than the vast and varied landscapes that stretch the breadth of our continent. Our lands have always provided great bounty -- food and shelter for the first Americans, for settlers and pioneers; the raw materials that grew our industry; the energy that powers our economy.
    What these gifts require in return is our wise and responsible stewardship.  As our greatest conservationist President, Teddy Roosevelt, put it almost a century ago, "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."
    That's the spirit behind the bipartisan legislation I'm signing today -- legislation among the most important in decades to protect, preserve, and pass down our nation’s most treasured landscapes to future generations.
    As the President noted, however, there is another hopeful element to the legislation, namely the Christopher and Dana Reeve's Paralysis Act, which boosts research and rehabilitation for paralysis:
    That's the mission of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.  In the lobby of their facility in New Jersey sits Christopher’s empty wheelchair.  And his son, Matthew Reeve, was once asked if the sight of it ever saddened him, and he replied no.  He said, "Empty chairs -- that was Dad's goal," he said.  "We hope there will be many more of them."
    Matthew is here with us today.  And the legislation I'm about to sign makes solid progress toward the realization of that hope and the promise of a brighter future.
     
    President Obama Signs the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009(President Barack Obama shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid after signing the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009.  White House Photo, 3/30/09, Chuck Kennedy)

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  • Clean Energy Jobs: From the Lab to the Manufacturing Line to the Living Room

    Posted by Jesse Lee on March 23, 2009 at 6:10 PM EDT

    Today the President held an event focused on "Investing in Our Clean Energy Future" --we asked Greg Nelson of the Office of Public Liaison to give us a rundown of what the event was all about.
    Behind every great company can usually be found a couple of key ingredients: an innovative inventor or scientist, a dogged and passionate entrepreneur, and a community of employees and supporters that make the vision a reality.
    Earlier today, President Obama spoke in front of a crowd that represented all aspects of this spectrum, from an idea in a lab that creates jobs and a better standard of living for all of us. The focus was on building the clean energy economy, and how investments in research and development today will pay off in high-quality green jobs tomorrow.
    The President’s budget helps lead the way (read the fact sheet), giving businesses the tools and stability needed to grow -- $150 billion over 10 years in clean energy and energy efficiency, and a 10-year commitment to make the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit permanent. Through this funding, projects have been able to start at institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and turn into growing green businesses like Serious Materials. To illustrate the point, MIT President Susan Hockfield and Serious Materials Vice Chairman Paul Holland joined the President on the stage to tell their stories.
    The President speaks on green jobs (President Barack Obama shares the podium with MIT's Susan Hockfield and Paul Holland of Serious Materials during the President's remarks on investments in clean energy and new technology Monday, March 23, 2009, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House. White House Photo / Lawrence Jackson)

    The pre-program was a lot of fun, an example of the dynamism and innovative partnerships that are happening right now in this time of necessity. Van Jones, newly minted as the Senior Advisor for Green Jobs, Innovation, and Enterprise at CEQ, lead a discussion about how to help companies and technologies make that leap across the chasm. How do we capture the imagination and turn it into meaningful work making products that matter?
    Van Jones speaks(Van Jones speaks, joined by Neal Verfuerth of Orion Energy Systems and Deepika Singh of Sinmat. Photo credit Jason Djang, 3/23/09)

    Joining Van were two great examples of the spectrum – Deepika Singh from Sinmat and Neal Verfueth from Orion Energy Systems. Both have been growing their dynamic businesses in this recession by focusing on technology and products that help us solve some of our most pressing needs – energy efficiency, smarter technology, and more integrated systems.
    Omar Friella and wife Gia Winsryg-Ulmer look on(Omar Friella of the Green Worker Cooperatives network and wife Gia Winsryg-Ulmer look on. Photo Credit Jason Djang, 3/23/09)<
    The President wrapped up the conversation with a commitment and a call to action – "all of you, you are helping us to build a cleaner, brighter future, and a stronger, more prosperous economy. And my administration and our country will support you in that difficult work."
    From the labs at MIT to the shop floors at Orion and Serious Materials – let’s get to work.
    The audience
    (The audience looks on intently during the pre-program.  Photo credit Jason Djang, 3/23/09)

     

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