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

  • From Sea to Shining Sea, and Everything in Between

    Posted by Will Manzer on December 7, 2012 at 1:38 PM EDT

    If you ask someone to describe their favorite outdoor activity, you will get dozens of answers. And the best part is that no matter the answer, you are able to find a place to do it right here in America.

    America is blessed with an amazing network of public and private lands and waters—from remote wilderness areas and local parks, to wild rivers and reservoirs, to hiking trails, bicycle paths, forests, and coastlines. Together, these places are the fabric of our nation’s outdoor recreation system that supports a $646 billion recreation economy, a quality of life that sustains local communities, and an industry that supports more than 6.1 million American jobs.

    America's Great Outdoors

    Gallatin National Forest, a popular recreation area in Montana's Northern Rockies (Photo Credit: Colin McWilliam, U.S. Forest Service)

    It is as a businessman in the outdoor recreation industry and an outdoor enthusiast that I applaud the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative (AGO). In April 2010, the President charged his cabinet “with developing a 21st century conservation agenda.” Just this week, the Administration released the America’s Great Outdoors 2012 Progress Report, highlighting five core components:

    • Connecting Americans to the Great Outdoors
    • Expanding Access to the Great Outdoors
    • Establishing Great Urban Parks and Community Green Spaces
    • Conserving and Restoring Large Landscapes and Working Lands
    • Enhancing Rivers and Other Waters

    Why does AGO matter? Well, AGO directly addresses how Americans connect and access our nation’s public lands. As it exists today, the management and funding of our nation’s public lands and waters fall under a myriad of different local, state, and federal jurisdictions and agencies. The complexity of our current system demands better communications across agencies and a holistic approach to the challenges and needs facing our public lands.  Achieving this is at the heart of AGO.

    America’s Great Outdoors is about both the outdoor recreation economy and the legacy that we will leave for future generations. Our choices today honor the foresight of our nation’s earliest leaders to protect and preserve our country’s lands and waters. But more importantly, when people go outside, they directly experience this legacy in every park, trail, river, and coastline found in our great country.

    The outdoor industry already taps into this legacy to create a healthier, happier, and economically vibrant America. I am glad to know that President Obama is working to do the same.

    Will Manzer is CEO of Eastern Mountain Sports and Chair of the Outdoor Industry Association Board of Directors

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  • Celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week

    Posted by Dan Ashe on October 17, 2012 at 4:25 PM EDT

    More than a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside a tiny bird rookery off the coast of Florida, Pelican Island, as the first national wildlife refuge. Since then the Refuge System has grown to become one of our greatest treasures with refuges from the Caribbean to the Pacific, from Maine to Alaska.

    This week (Oct. 14-20) we celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week with special events for the public to enjoy at our 560 national wildlife refuges from coast to coast.

    Our refuges include examples of every type of ecosystem in North America including boreal forests, wetlands; deserts, grasslands; arctic tundra and remote islands. They provide habitat for 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 species of reptiles and amphibians, and more than 1,000 species of fish and countless invertebrates and plants.

    Burrowing Owls

    Burrowing owls at the Rocky Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado. (by Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge)

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  • Weekly Wrap Up: Operation Educate the Educators

    Posted by Lea Prohov on October 5, 2012 at 5:00 PM EDT

    Here's a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

    Watch the West Wing Week here.

    In October, the White House is working to recognize a range of important causes: 

    • Breast Cancer Awareness Month: On Monday evening, the White House was illuminated pink to mark the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. President Obama wrote in a Presidential Proclamation, “we honor those we have lost, lend our strength to those who carry on the fight, and pledge to educate ourselves and our loved ones about this tragic disease.”
    • National Energy Action Month: On Monday, in an official proclamation, President Obama called on the American people to “recognize this month by working together to achieve greater energy security, a more robust economy, and a healthier environment for our children.” The President is pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy to help the United States achieve energy independence. Watch this video outlining the progress we’ve made and President Obama’s plan for the future.
    • Domestic Violence Awareness Month: This month also marks Domestic Violence Awareness month. The Obama Administration is committed to raising awareness and preventing domestic violence. Earlier this year, President Obama directed federal agencies to develop policies to assist victims of domestic violence in the federal workforce. Through Vice President Biden’s 1 is 2 Many campaign, we released a public service announcement featuring professional athletes and other role models speaking out against dating violence.

    Includes Video
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  • National Energy Action Month

    Posted by Matt Compton on October 4, 2012 at 12:00 PM EDT

    October is National Energy Action Month, when Americans are called up to work together, "to achieve greater energy security, a more robust economy, and a healthier environment for our children" -- as President Obama wrote in an official proclamation on Monday.

    Those goals are the reason that the President is pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy to help the United States achieve energy independence.

    To give you a better sense of what that means, we've put together a video that outlines the progress we've made and President's Obama's plan for the future.

    Check it out:

    Learn more:

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  • Fueling American Entrepreneurship With Open Data

    Posted by Aman Bhandari and Raphael Majma on October 3, 2012 at 1:13 PM EDT

    For decades, entrepreneurs have used government data from Global Positioning Systems, weather monitoring stations, and other sources to power their products and services. This synergy between freely available Federal data and entrepreneurial innovation has benefited both the American economy and American citizens.

    This summer, the Obama Administration took a big step to strengthen this synergy by kicking off the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which pairs top innovators from inside and outside government for intensive, six-month stints to help solve major challenges. Among other activities, the Program is advancing a number of Open Data Initiatives to liberate unprecedented volumes of government data related to energy, education, international development, public safety, and other key areas. The goal of these efforts is to connect the next generation of entrepreneurs and service providers to freely available government data, while rigorously protecting privacy.

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  • Energy Datapalooza: Unleashing the Power of Open Data to Advance our Energy Future

    Posted by Secretary Steven Chu, Todd Park, and Nancy Sutley on October 1, 2012 at 11:26 AM EDT

    Ed. note: This is cross-posted from the Office of Science and Technology Policy blog

    Imagine it is a scorching hot summer day, and your smart phone beeps, asking if you’d like it to raise your home thermostat a degree or two to save money. Or, envision an easy-to-use software package that lets a building owner perform virtual energy audits at a fraction of the cost of in-person audits, so real savings are calculated instantly, building upgrades launched sooner, and construction jobs created faster.

    These are the kinds of advances that are on display today at the White House as more than 150 of America’s entrepreneurs, software developers, energy experts, and policy makers come together for an Energy Datapalooza. The gathering is a chance to celebrate new products, services, and apps that are advancing a secure, clean energy future—all built with freely available data from the government and other sources.

    The event includes demonstrations of mobile apps and web-based services that are available to families and businesses today, as well as previews of future inventions. In addition, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will honor the winners of the Department of Energy’s inaugural “Apps for Energy” challenge, whose inventions include innovative applications such as: Leafully, which uses creative comparisons to help consumers understand how their actions impact the world and their wallet; Melon Power, which helps building owners easily calculate their Energy Star score; and VELOBill, which makes it easy to visualize energy usage data, compare it to peers, and make a plan to save energy.

    The day includes several exciting announcements. The Energy Department is launching a new “Vehicles Data Challenge” aimed at spurring technologies that can increase fuel efficiency and protect against distracted driving. And utilities and software companies are announcing the launch of “Green Button Connect My Data” in California and the Mid-Atlantic. Green Button Connect My Data enables energy customers to securely and automatically transfer their own energy data to authorized third parties, if they choose to do so. It builds on previous commitments under the Green Button Initiative to help consumers download their own energy data to their desktops.

    The Energy Datapalooza will demonstrate how private-sector entrepreneurs are creating jobs and helping Americans save money, using open data as their fuel. To keep the momentum going, the Energy Department is announcing the release of 20 new datasets, three new application programing interfaces to make data easily accessible by software developers, and hundreds of qualified data links in the Energy.Data.Gov community.

    For a full list of announcements from the Energy Datapalooza, please see this fact sheet.

    Steven Chu is U.S. Secretary of Energy, Todd Park is U.S. Chief Technology Officer, and Nancy Sutley is Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.

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