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  • Promoting Sustainable Health Care

    Posted by Gary Cohen on July 24, 2012 at 3:26 PM EDT

    Health Care Without Harm President Gary Cohen

    Health Care Without Harm President and Founder Gary Cohen speaks during a panel discussion at the White House event on Sustainability and the Health Care Industry (White House Council on Environmental Quality)

    Imagine energy efficient hospitals that save money on energy bills to use for critical patient care, and that promote renewable energy as a community health and resilience strategy. Imagine hospitals that create healthy food environments to help address the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in our country. Imagine hospitals that lead society in reducing toxic chemical exposures , and that are reducing their waste, saving money and improving patient care at the same time. Imagine a health care system that redefines “community benefit” to include improving the living conditions of communities that hospitals serve, and focusing on the prevention of disease through environmental health in addition to treatment. Imagine a health care system that makes up over 20 percent of the U.S. economy and becomes the driving force for safer products, cleaner energy, and healthier communities.

    This vision is what the Healthier Hospital Initiative is bringing to reality today and is proud to share with the Obama Administration at the White House event on Health Care and Sustainability. We have created a roadmap for hospitals to embed sustainability into their core business model and are providing technical assistance to offer every hospital in America the chance to participate for free. Health Care Without Harm has joined with our sister organization Practice Greenhealth, The Center for Health Design and 11 of the largest hospital systems in America to create the Healthier Hospital Initiative and drive this movement in health care for healthier hospitals. We already have the participation of more than 600 hospitals and we aim to recruit 2,000 overall and track the progress of the sector in achieving our goals.

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  • Making Plans for GreenGov 2012: Leading by Example

    Posted by Jon Powers on July 24, 2012 at 10:45 AM EDT

    The third annual GreenGov Symposium is taking place in Washington, D.C. September 24 - 26, 2012. Co-hosted by the Council on Environmental Quality and the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Symposium will bring sustainability leaders and newcomers in the federal, state, and local government, academic, non-profit and private sectors together to learn from each other, share ideas, and help develop innovative solutions to our energy and sustainability challenges. By design, the Symposium helps the Federal Community save energy, save money, and address our sustainability goals and targets under Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance.

    Now, you can take a look at the preliminary agenda for the Symposium on http://www.greengov2012.com/program-agenda.html. With ten tracks over two days, the Symposium will have more than 50 informative sessions, including panel discussions with leading experts, best practice case studies, and new concept, 101-education sessions.  And, we are ensuring that some sessions will be webcast to allow those who cannot attend to share in the GreenGov experience. This year we are also hosting post-conference workshops and meetings on September 26, 2012, to allow for additional discussion and training related to sustainability. 

    The Symposium is unlike any other annual gathering, designed specifically for the benefit of government employees who are dedicated to helping their agencies and the Federal government lead by example in meeting sustainability targets laid forth by the President.  The work accomplished during the Symposium is beneficial to all levels of government, with initiatives targeting better management and fewer taxpayer dollars spent on government operations.

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  • Brainstorming Apps for a Clean Energy Future

    Posted by Nick Sinai and Ian Kalin on July 20, 2012 at 8:55 AM EDT

    Building off the recent launch of the Energy Data Initiative, fifty technologists, entrepreneurs, and investors joined staff from the White House, Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency to participate in an “Energy Data Jam” last week in New York City. One of the goals of the half-day workshop was to brainstorm how freely available datasets—i.e., open data—might be used by clean-energy entrepreneurs for new products, services, or apps.

    Launched by the Obama Administration earlier this year, the Energy Data Initiative aims to help Americans shrink their energy costs, improve the environment, and create jobs.  By “liberating” data from the vaults of the government and other sources, the Energy Data Initiative empowers innovators to transform data into valuable tools that we can actually use in our daily lives.

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  • Promoting Sustainability Through Sports

    Posted by Ovie Mughelli on July 19, 2012 at 12:46 PM EDT

    NFL Fullback Ovie Mughelli

    NFL fullback and environmental activist Ovie Mughelli gives the closing remarks at the White House's event on Sports and Sustainability (Photo Credit: White House Council on Environmental Quality)

    I am honored to speak today as part of a White House Event on Sports and Sustainability. As a professional athlete and an advocate for clean, healthy communities, it is a privilege to speak on behalf of athletes and sports arenas across the country who are working to promote a sustainable future.

    In 2008, I established the Ovie Mughelli Foundation to help educate children about how their environment affects them. Through the foundation, I have had the opportunity to work with leaders across sectors who share the goal of educating millions of Americans about promoting sustainability in today's world. We also share the Obama Administration’s commitment to encouraging measures that save energy, reduce pollution, and foster healthy and successful living environments.

    A major part of my efforts has been to leverage the opportunities I’ve gained as a professional football player to encourage not only adults but also young people to take action at home. With the promotion of practical lifestyle changes within our everyday communities, we have encouraged people to champion actions that keep their communities healthy, including through fun activities that combine sports with environmental education. Most importantly, the Mughelli team strives to foster leadership in the next generation to build a green movement that addresses their needs and concerns.

    It’s an honor to participate in this White House event – I plan to continue to work with others in the sports community and outside of it to raise awareness about the steps we can all take to provide for a healthy and sustainable future.

    Ovie Mughelli is a National Football League Pro Bowl fullback and founder of the Ovie Mughelli Foundation, a nonprofit organization that educates children about the environment

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  • Responsibly Expanding America’s Offshore Energy Development

    Posted by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on July 18, 2012 at 10:54 AM EDT

    In recent weeks, the Department of the Interior announced a key component of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy: a five-year program for offshore oil and gas leasing that will allow our nation to expand safe and responsible oil and gas development to help power our economy.  The five year program, which we developed after extensive input from the public, states, tribes, and others, makes more than 75% of recoverable energy resources in our oceans available for exploration and development – including frontier areas in the Alaskan Arctic. At the same time, we are also taking steps to identify additional resources in currently undeveloped areas to inform future development decisions.

    The five year program we are implementing builds on the President’s strong record on oil and gas development. Nationwide, domestic oil and natural gas production has increased every year President Obama has been in office. In 2011, American oil production reached the highest level in nearly a decade and natural gas production reached an all-time high. America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year since President Obama took office. We have cut net imports by ten percent – a million barrels a day – in the last year alone.  At the same time, we have implemented comprehensive reforms in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has made offshore development safer and more responsible.

    Under the administration’s five year program, we have delivered what the American people have asked for: a smart way forward that focuses on the areas that contain the overwhelming majority of the resources rather than simply opening areas for the sake of achieving an imaginary acreage threshold.

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  • Open Data for a Clean, Secure Energy Future

    Posted by Todd Park, David Danielson and Richard Kauffman on July 12, 2012 at 11:42 AM EDT

    Freely-available data from the Federal government and other sources can be a powerful input to private sector innovation. Open data can spur entrepreneurship, empower citizens, and create jobs. As just one example, data from the US Global Positioning System (GPS) have been utilized by entrepreneurs to power navigation systems, precision crop farming tools, and other innovations that add over $90 billion in value to our economy each year and have improved the lives of Americans in many ways.

    The Obama Administration recently launched a series of Open Data Initiatives—in health, public safety, education, and energy. The Energy Data Initiative (EDI) aims to help Americans benefit from entrepreneurial innovation enabled by open energy data from the US government and other sources. By working to make energy data more available and useful to entrepreneurs, we’re confident that new products and services will continue to emerge to help American families and businesses save energy and money, protect the environment, and ensure a reliable energy future.

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