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 at a Glance Securing American Energy Climate Change Our Environment Energy News

Energy and Environment Latest News

  • Better Building Federal Award Underway

    Posted by Nick Sinai and Tim Unruh on July 31, 2012 at 2:48 PM EDT

    The nomination period for the 2013 Better Building Federal Award (BBFA) is now open. This contest builds on the Federal Government’s goal to reduce energy intensity – or energy consumed per square foot – by 30 percent by 2015 through encouraging, recognizing, and rewarding Federal agencies that achieve the greatest annual savings in energy intensity.

    On December 2, 2011, the President announced the investment of nearly $4 billion in combined Federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings. In this announcement, the President challenged the private and public sectors to make rapid investments in creating a more sustainable, energy-efficient workplace. As part of the Better Buildings Initiative, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Energy challenged Federal agencies to nominate Federal facilities for the BBFA in a letter to Federal Building Managers.

    read the rest
    Learn more about Innovations, Energy and Environment, Technology

  • Growing Our Economy Through the Great Outdoors

    Posted by Ben Bulis on July 31, 2012 at 8:55 AM EDT

    It comes as no surprise that all living things require clean land, air and water. Does the U.S. economy require the same? A new report from the Outdoor Industry Association says, yes! According to the report, recreation in the United States supports 6.1 million jobs and drives $646 billion a year in direct consumer spending on recreational gear and travel. Even during these challenging economic times, the outdoor industry has been growing at a steady rate of 5 percent annually.

    President Obama has proposed a $450 million investment in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for fiscal year 2013. The LWCF is a critical tool for protecting our forests, parks, rivers, open space and local sports fields.  By using revenues from oil and gas drilling to invest in Federal, state and local conservation efforts, the LWCF has been used over the last 50 years to provide recreational opportunities in nearly every county in the Nation. Congress should follow the President’s lead by funding the LWCF, which will protect and enhance the local and state parks enjoyed by fly fishing enthusiasts around the country.

    At the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, we understand the importance of protecting our public lands and fostering the economic contributions of outdoor enthusiasts. Manufacturers and retailers of fly-fishing products are not looking for a handout. What we envision is our Nation’s leaders working together to protect the public lands where citizens can use our products and ensure future generations have the same opportunities to recreate as we do today.  We should all be able to agree that protecting the public’s access to the outdoors now and for future generations is not only common sense, but also the ideal job creator.

    Ben Bulis is the President of the American Fly Fishing Trade Association

    Learn more about Energy and Environment

  • A Long-Term Game Plan for Solar Energy Development on our Public Lands

    Posted by David J. Hayes on July 27, 2012 at 2:32 PM EDT

    Secretary Salazar’s Interior Department has made dramatic progress in siting utility-scale renewable energy projects on our public lands over the past three years.  When President Obama came into office in January 2009, there were no solar projects permitted on our public lands -- despite the availability of world class solar resources in the tens of millions of acres of public lands in the sunny desert southwest. 

    What a difference three years can make.  As of July 2012, our Department has permitted 31 major renewable energy projects with the capacity to generate nearly 7,000 megawatts and meet the power needs of about two million homes.  A majority of that new renewable energy involves utility-scale solar projects.  Indeed, workers are constructing – right now -- some of the world’s largest solar facilities in the deserts of California and Nevada. 

    read the rest
    Learn more about Energy and Environment

  • Advancing National Security Through Energy Security

    Posted by Ray Mabus on July 27, 2012 at 10:56 AM EDT

    Recently, I had the great privilege to watch our highly skilled sailors doing what they do best, and to witness the U.S. Navy's most sophisticated air and sea platforms perform complex operations using advanced biofuel and energy efficient technologies.

    Last week during RIMPAC, the largest maritime exercise in the world, the U.S. Navy successfully demonstrated the Great Green Fleet, a Carrier Strike Group's aircraft and surface ships, on advanced biofuel to test the fuel's performance while conducting operations, including: fueling helicopters and jets from the deck of a nuclear-powered carrier; completing arrested landings of aircraft onto a carrier, the first ever using biofuels; refueling a destroyer while underway; and air-to-air refueling.

    The demonstrations confirmed that advanced biofuels can be integrated seamlessly for the user and perform the same as traditional fossil fuel.  The demonstration also showcased energy efficiency technology that increases combat capability. 

     

    The Great Green Fleet

    The guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton is participating in the Great Gleen Fleet demonstration at the RIMPAC 2012 exercise (Photo from United States Navy, Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Eva-Marie Ramsaran)

    The Navy is pursuing alternatives because the nation’s reliance on foreign oil is a significant and well-recognized military vulnerability. The ability to use fuels other than petroleum is critical to our energy security because it will increase our flexibility and reduce the services' vulnerability to rapid and unforeseen changes in the price of oil.  A $1 change in the price of a barrel of oil, for example, results in an approximately $30 million change in the Navy budget.    This is why the Navy will only purchase operational quantities of biofuel blends when they are competitive with petroleum, period. We simply cannot afford to do it otherwise and will not do it.

    Joining me at the demonstration was Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert, and the commanders of U.S. Pacific Fleet and U.S. 3rd Fleet.  Their participation signaled to the Navy and the nation the Navy’s commitment to pursuing alternatives to imported fossil fuels because we believe it is critical to our national security. 

    A viable advanced biofuels market can inject competition into the liquid fuel market, which could drive down the cost of liquid fuels and dampen price volatility.  We recently pushed more competition into the shipbuilding industry, which allowed the Navy to bring down the cost of our ships.  We can do the same for the fuel we purchase to power those ships and other platforms.

    The Navy has always led in energy transformations, moving from wind to coal, coal to oil, and then pioneering the use of nuclear power.  The Great Green Fleet was named in honor of the Great White Fleet that circled the globe beginning in 1907 and introduced America as a global power.  It comprised the most advanced ships of its time; battleships made from steel and powered by steam, and represented America’s greatness and ingenuity.  The Great Green Fleet demonstration continues our long tradition of energy transformation by powering the Fleet with alternative fuels.

    Ray Mabus is the United States Secretary of the Navy

    Learn more about Energy and Environment

  • Inventing a Sustainable Future for Latin America

    Posted by Luis Aguirre-Torres on July 27, 2012 at 10:39 AM EDT

    The future has always been far away. Ever since I was a child, I remember thinking about the future as a very distant event. I remember thinking that the future would be different and, in one word, better than whatever the present was for me back then.

    Today, I realize I live in the future, just not the future I wanted for my family, my children and the people I care about. I realize the future I live in is a future I contributed to create mostly by not doing much about it.

    Granted, the world we live in has been marred by a series of unfortunate events, some caused by us, some not. In the last ten years alone we’ve had perhaps the worst financial crisis the world has seen in 80 years, as well as a series of crises relating to the lack of or uneven distribution of natural resources, including water, food and oil. And most recently, climate change. The problem is not necessarily the amount of damage caused by these crises, but rather the long term, and even irreversible, effects they could have.

    The financial crisis of 2008 served as a wakeup call for the entire planet. The effects of the crisis were felt all over the world, especially in developing countries. It was a moment in which we had to decide whether to pursue the same goals that had brought us to this point, or to change the ways we think about the economy, the environment, technology and society. That is, we were at a cross roads where we needed to decide what kind of future we wanted for ourselves, our children and the entire world.

    read the rest
    Learn more about Energy and Environment

  • U.S. Public Lands Continue to Create Jobs and Boost Local Economies Through Tourism, Restoration Efforts, and Energy Initiatives

    Posted by Secretary Ken Salazar and Secretary Tom Vilsack on July 26, 2012 at 1:16 PM EDT

    America’s national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other outdoor spaces are treasured for their beauty, their enjoyment, and for their value to our culture and history -- sometimes, it can be easy to overlook that they also serve as economic drivers for American communities.  In sectors ranging from tourism to outdoor recreation and energy development, our nation’s public lands and waters are creating jobs and supporting local economies across the country.

    Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an annual visitor survey, which highlights how our nation’s forests are contributing billions of dollars to the economy and creating jobs in tourism, restoration, and renewable energy.  The report showed that USDA Forest Service lands attracted 166 million visitors in 2011, and, as a result, visitor spending in nearby communities sustained more than 200,000 full- and part-time jobs.  The survey also reveals that these jobs produced labor income of more than $7.6 billion, while forest and grassland visitor spending contributed more than $13 billion to the gross domestic product.

    In addition, a recently-released report from the Department of the Interior shows that in Fiscal Year 2011, the activities of the Department contributed $385 billion to the economy and supported over 2 million homegrown, American jobs.  The findings show the real, lasting impacts of these activities—which range from facilitating energy and mineral development to encouraging tourism and recreation at national parks, monuments, and refuges—on our economy.

    These are not the first reports to show the positive impact public lands have on the U.S. economy.  An earlier study by Interior’s Office of Policy Analysis found that recreation in national parks, refuges, and other public lands alone led to nearly $47 billion in economic contribution and 388,000 jobs in 2010.  Another report released by the Outdoor Industry Association revealed that 140 million Americans spent a combined $646 billion on hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, and other outdoor recreation on public and private lands supporting more than 6 million American jobs.

    President Obama is working to bolster these impacts through a number of initiatives, including:

    read the rest
    Learn more about Energy and Environment