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

  • National Bioeconomy Blueprint Released

    Posted by Mary Maxon and Elizabeth Robinson on April 26, 2012 at 8:22 AM EDT

    Today, the Obama Administration announced its commitment to strengthening bioscience research as a major driver of American innovation and economic growth.  The National Bioeconomy Blueprint outlines steps that agencies will take to drive the bioeconomy—economic activity powered by research and innovation in the biosciences—and details ongoing efforts across the Federal government to realize this goal.

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  • Restoring the Past, Preapring for the Future: Recovery after Natural Disaster

    Posted by Jackie Cole on April 25, 2012 at 12:53 PM EDT

    Jackie Cole is being recognized as a Champion of Change for her innovative energy priorities and sustainable living practices making a greener community a possibility in any American city or town.

    Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston Island September 13, 2008,  flooding 75 percent of the buildings and killing an estimated 40,000 trees, about 50 percent of our total urban canopy. The majority died from salt water poisoning. A small group of volunteers worked through the shock of the disaster to guide the selection of trees for removal,  responsible disposal of dead wood and replanting.  

    When so many trees are lost in a disaster, it becomes clear that trees are as critical as any of our other infrastructure.  They can no longer be considered landscaping or beautification but as critical to urban living. 

    After the initial cleanup, the community and FEMA waited until spring to evaluate the health of the trees. It was evident that the majority of the trees had died.  

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  • Rivers are the Link from Our Past to Or Future

    Posted by Jeff Shoemaker on April 25, 2012 at 12:40 PM EDT

    Jeff Shoemaker is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his innovative energy priorities and sustainable living practices making a greener community a possibility in any American city or town.

    The Greenway Foundation originated in 1974 as the Platte River Development Committee, formed after Denver’s massively destructive flood of the South Platte River in 1965. The Greenway Foundation initiated more than just flood control and waste cleanup – the Foundation accomplished the resurrection of the South Platte River and its surrounding area from a virtual cesspool to a place of environmental and recreational pride for the citizens of Denver. Since 1974, the Greenway Foundation has partnered with the City and County of Denver to create 20+ riverside parks, numerous whitewater boat chutes, and a nationally recognized urban trail system, collectively known as the South Platte River Greenway. In addition, The Foundation provides environmental education to Denver Public Schools elementary students and mentors diverse, underserved high school students while employing them as environmental educators and doing habitat restoration on the river.

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  • Environment Prep: Teaching the Next Generation to Take the Lead

    Posted by Brian Kasher on April 25, 2012 at 12:40 PM EDT

    Brian Kasher is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his innovative energy priorities and sustainable living practices making a greener community a possibility in any American city or town.

    Being honored as a White House Champion of Change is indeed an honor, but in turn also serves as recognition for the broader efforts of the regional community including Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) students and staff, Mecklenburg County Environmental Leadership Team, City of Charlotte Environmental Cabinet, numerous associations, advocacy groups, public private partnerships and more. Through collaboration and teamwork the CharMeck region continues to make strides in environmental protections and improvement.

    Greening our cities and towns requires a targeted approach in public school systems to achieve meaningful health benefits to our children united with substantial savings to the taxpayer and improvements for the larger community. School systems very often have the largest environmental footprint under local public auspice. Metrics such as the number of daily occupants, size of built environment, acreage, utility consumption, fleet fuel consumption and emissions, purchasing volume, number of meals served and more illustrate the significant scale of public school system commons within the community.

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  • Going Green in the City

    Posted by Steve Montle on April 25, 2012 at 12:37 PM EDT

    Steve Montle is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his innovative energy priorities and sustainable living practices making a greener community a possibility in any American city or town.

    I am honored to have been selected as a Champion of Change for my work with the Center for Community Progress and our community based efforts to create sustainable options for urban redevelopment in Flint, Michigan. While I am pleased to accept this honor, it should be recognized that my work is only a small part of a larger effort by our community to: revitalize our core urban areas, take responsibility for the revitalization of our valuable natural resources, and create a better quality of life for those who live and work in our city. 

    Flint, like many industrial cities, has seen its share of setbacks in recent decades. Job losses, infrastructure decline, population loss and environmental contamination are all well-documented issues facing Flint and similar cities in Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. However, through strong local leadership and extensive cooperative efforts, our community has begun to turn the corner and build a future based on finding new and creative options to address many of our long-standing development challenges.  

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  • West Virginia: A National Leader in Sustainable Communities

    Posted by Joesph Mathis on April 25, 2012 at 12:33 PM EDT

     Joesph Mathis is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his innovative energy priorities and sustainable living practices making a greener community a possibility in any American city or town.

    In a comprehensive study performed by Rupert Vance, an American sociologist, in 1962, he stated that “if the problem of Appalachia is to be met, it must be interpreted in the context of national development.” Yet in the same decade contemporary historian Thomas Kiffmeyer noted in his recent book Reformers to Radicals: The Appalachian Volunteers and the War on Poverty that “the trajectory of activism – the self-serving nature of many of the participants and their attitudes toward those they came to help – reveals the shortcomings of America’s reform tradition.” He went on to critique a model that sought to interpret Appalachia in the context of a 60’s version of community development by stating that the “War on Poverty planners and participants adopted, as did many of their civil rights counterparts, a reform philosophy that saw victims as the source of poverty and ignored attempts to better their own conditions.”

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