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

  • How Solar is Powering our Armed Forces and Economy

    Posted by Bob Powell on February 28, 2014 at 11:33 AM EDT

    Editor's Note: This blog introduces readers to Bob Powell, President of SunEdison North America.

    As part of President Obama’s commitment to addressing climate change, he has made it a priority to help America’s armed forces double-down on renewable energy and increase federal renewable energy purchases.    In 2012, the Department of Defense announced a goal to deploy three gigawatts of renewable power and meet 25% of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2025.  In December 2013, President Obama called for the government to triple renewable energy use in federal facilities, to 20% by 2020.  These goals are achievable, in part because solar is now close to parity with retail electric rates and wholesale competition from fossil fuels in many states without incentives.   

    The Air Force is the largest consumer of energy in the federal government, spending more than $9 billion annually on fuel and electricity.  A prime example of the Air Force and U.S. military’s solar leadership, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is a 16.4 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar facility in Tucson Arizona that began operation in January 2014 and is the largest of its kind on any U.S. Department of Defense installation.   Davis-Monthan’s solar plant was built in just five months thanks to up to 150 Americans “pounding in place” solar panels.  Moreover, the project will use almost zero water to generate power, which is important to a state facing severe drought. 

    Solar is not only an energy cost hedge against future electric cost increases and a water saver, but also a jobs winner for America, creating well-paid, highly-skilled jobs here at home that cannot be outsourced.  Solar is the fastest-growing source of renewable energy in America, pumping billions of dollars into the U.S. economy.   Back in 2008, President Obama had the vision to encourage U.S. solar energy just as the global economy was plunging into recession.  According to the Solar Energy Industries Association and The Solar Foundation, solar jobs have increased from about 24,000 in 2007 to an astounding 143,000 Americans working in the U.S. solar industry today, and a projected 165,000 jobs by the next State of the Union.

    Having come from a utility, I know how important it is that these solar energy projects demonstrate real cost savings for the public.  SunEdison was the first to introduce the solar power purchase agreement, now the leading business model in the industry and a smart new finance tool that enables our public agencies to more cost-efficiently procure energy by leveraging private sector tax options.   This new Davis-Monthan solar project will provide approximately 35 percent of the Base’s electricity requirements at an economically beneficial rate for 25 years, reducing the Base’s utility costs by an average of $500,000 annually. 

    Leveraging private-public partnerships through long-term power purchase agreements for solar is novel for federal agencies, and federal facilities require particularly strong partnerships to succeed.  The Air Force should be commended for its bold leadership in using this type of solar financing that is providing real savings and value to the government and to taxpayers.

    SunEdison is proud to partner with the Obama Administration to keep expanding America’s solar leadership, enabling U.S. energy independence while putting Americans to work every day.  Our company, headquartered in Belmont, California, is a leading American provider of solar from silicon to electrons, with manufacturing in Pasadena, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and St. Peters, Missouri.  We and our partners will keep working to make a safer, more stable world, with renewable sources of energy, as the President urged in the State of the Union.  2014 will be another year of action, helping more Americans turn to solar to go to work, save money, help meet their energy needs, and improve our environment.

    Bob Powell is President of SunEdison North America.   

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  • How our Veterans are Securing our Energy Future

    Posted by Jon Powers on February 27, 2014 at 3:53 PM EDT

    Like many of my fellow veterans, I first began to understand the issue of energy security while serving on the battlefield in Iraq.  Each night, after local workers left our base, we needed to move our fuel trucks because the location where those trucks had been would become a mortar target at night.  Over the past several years, the military has made incredible strides to address energy security on the battlefield.  They have learned that being energy efficient and having resilient power supplies not only saves money, but saves lives.

    Our veterans, returning from service to their country in Iraq and Afghanistan, have brought their own experiences with energy security home with them.  Now, many are serving on the front lines of clean energy and climate security.  Last November, the White House honored 12 veterans and leaders who are using their skills and knowledge to advance clean energy initiatives and promote greater climate security at the Champions of Change: Veterans Advancing Clean Energy and Climate Security event.

    This week, the Solar Foundation and Operation Free released a joint report called Veterans in Solar: Securing America’s Energy Future. This first-of-its-kind report shows that veterans – a group that has faced extraordinarily high unemployment – are employed within the solar industry at higher-than-average rates. The report highlights that America’s solar industry has grown by 500 percent since 2008, providing more than 13,000 veterans with job opportunities as of November 2013.  Strikingly, veterans represent nearly 10 percent of all solar workers at a time when more than 15 percent of veterans aged 18-24 are currently unemployed. The report also discovered that the growth in the industry is continuing: nearly 62 percent of solar companies that employ veterans plan to add more solar workers within the next 12 months.

    Our returning service men and women have the skills and training our country needs to ensure continued progress toward a clean economy.  As the President has stated, “No veteran who fought for our nation overseas should have to fight for a job when they return home.”  It’s clear that veterans are finding that the skill sets they obtained through military service are valued by leading solar companies. I am encouraged by the Solar Foundation’s and Operation Free’s commitment to highlighting this opportunity, and by the success of our veterans in continuing to serve the country by advancing our energy security.

    Jon Powers is the Federal Environmental Executive at the Council on Environmental Quality.

     

     

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  • All-of-the-Above is Making a Difference Across America

    Posted by Dr. Ernest Moniz on February 26, 2014 at 12:10 PM EDT

    Ed. note: This is a crosspost from Energy.gov. See the original post, and a gallery from the Secretary's travels, here.

    During his recent State of the Union address, President Obama reiterated the importance of American energy: “One of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American energy. The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today, America is closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades.”

    In the month since the President’s speech, I’ve been traveling across the country to highlight the Administration’s efforts to promote production of domestic energy, create jobs and opportunities for American families, and address the serious issues posed by climate change. The President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy is a path to progress on all three points.

    Four weeks ago, I was in Virginia to talk about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and job creation in the energy field. I visited Hampton University, a historically black university that has evolved into an impressive research university -- partly by drawing on collaboration with nearby Energy Department and NASA facilities. While there, I was able to announce that Hampton’s President, Bill Harvey, has become an Ambassador for the Energy Department’s Minorities in Energy program.

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  • West Wing Week 02/21/14 or “Don’t Make Small Plans, Make Big Plans”

    Posted by Adam Garber on February 21, 2014 at 1:00 AM EDT

    This week, the President traveled to the North American Leaders Summit in Toluca, Mexico, to California to address the current drought and to meet with the King of Jordan, and to Upper Marlboro, Maryland to announce an increase in fuel efficiency standards for heavy trucks.  That's February 14th to February 20th or "Don't Make Small Plans, Make Big Plans."

     

    Includes Video
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  • Kicking Vehicle Efficiency into High Gear

    Posted by Dan Utech on February 18, 2014 at 4:45 PM EDT

    President Barack Obama delivers remarks on improving the fuel efficiency of American trucks, at the Safeway Distribution Center

    President Barack Obama delivers remarks on improving the fuel efficiency of American trucks, at the Safeway Distribution Center in Upper Marlboro, Md., Feb. 18, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

    When the President took office, the fuel efficiency standards for our cars had been stuck at 27.5 miles per gallon for twenty years – two decades of lost time when it comes to developing new technologies that can get more miles per gallon out of every tankful of gas. That’s why one of the very first actions the President took in office was to direct the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation to work with the auto industry to develop new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks. It was guided by a belief that if this industry was truly going to come back stronger than before – and thrive over the long term – then we had to build the cars of the future right here in America. After all, improving fuel efficiency represents one of the best opportunities we have to reduce our dependence on oil.

    With the President’s leadership, we were able to move forward. Taken together, the standards the Administration has put in place for cars and light trucks span model years 2011 to 2025 and they represent the toughest fuel economy standards in history. Under this first-ever national program, average fuel efficiency for cars and trucks will nearly double, reaching an average performance equivalent of about 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

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  • Administration-Wide Response to the Drought

    Posted by Kasie Coccaro on February 15, 2014 at 3:32 PM EDT

    On Friday, President Obama headed to California to tour drought-affected areas and talk to those affected by impacts of one of the state’s worst droughts in over 100 years. While there, President Obama announced new actions that the Administration will take to help the farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and communities being impacted.

    President Obama laid out these Administration actions while touring fields from Joe and Maria Gloria Del Bosque's farm that will lay fallow this year because of the drought:

    First, we’re accelerating $100 million of funds from the farm bill that I signed last week to help ranchers. For example, if their fields have dried up, this is going to help them feed their livestock.

    Second, last week, we announced $20 million to help hard-hit communities, and today, we’re announcing up to $15 million more for California and other states that are in extreme drought.

    Third, I’m directing the Interior Department to use its existing authorities, where appropriate, to give water contractors flexibility to meet their obligations. 

    And fourth, I’m directing all federal facilities in California to take immediate steps to curb their water use, including a moratorium on water usage for new, non-essential landscaping projects.

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