Energy and the Environment [Obama]

Author: Obama for America

President Obama has made protecting the environment a priority, moving us toward energy independence, investing in clean energy jobs, and taking steps to improve the quality of our air and water. As of November 2010, the Obama administration's policies have helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the clean energy industry.
President Obama enacted the largest expansion of land and water conservation and protected wilderness in a generation. He also created the America’s Great Outdoors initiative to develop a community-led conservation and recreation agenda for the 21st century.
President Obama is committed to putting in place an “all-of-the-above strategy” to develop every available source of American energy while making sure we never have to choose between protecting our environment and strengthening our economy.

INVESTING IN CLEAN, AMERICAN-MADE ENERGY

In his most recent State of the Union address, President Obama reiterated his commitment to lessening America’s dependence on foreign oil and investing in clean energy to protect our environment and create jobs.

The President has announced the opening of public lands for investments in clean energy, and he has committed his administration to approve projects by the end of 2012 that will increase renewable generation capacity to power 3 million homes.

WIND POWER AND SOLAR ENERGY

The Obama administration has taken major steps to develop offshore wind resources, including approving the country’s first-ever offshore wind farm—which is expected to produce enough clean electricity to power more than 200,000 homes—and taking steps to streamline the leasing process for future offshore wind projects.
The administration has approved the construction of 16 commercial-scale solar facilities, five wind, and eight geothermal projects on public lands that are expected to power about 1.3 million homes and support 12,500 jobs.

REDUCING OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL

Under President Obama, American oil production is at an eight-year high, and we are less reliant on foreign oil than at any time in the last 16 years.

FUEL ECONOMY

The President made an agreement with auto manufacturers to improve the overall fuel economy of the nation’s passenger auto fleet to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025—nearly twice the 27.5 miles per gallon standard that was in place when he took office.

The Obama administration’s groundbreaking standards for cars and light trucks will save families roughly $8,200 at the pump per vehicle by 2025. The standards will also cut in half vehicles’ greenhouse gas pollution, reducing a major cause of climate change.

Auto Industry

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF OUR AIR

Under President Obama’s direction, the Environmental Protection Agency has issued the first-ever national standards for mercury emissions and other dangerous toxins from coal- and oil-fired power plants.

The new safeguards will help to clear our skies, preventing up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 cases of asthma each year.

INVESTING IN CLEAN COAL

President Obama has set a 10-year goal to develop and deploy cost-effective clean coal technology, and to put online several commercial demonstration projects within four years
The Recovery Act invested substantially in carbon capture and sequestration research, including 22 projects across four different areas of carbon capture-and-storage research and development
Under President Obama, we’ve implemented numerous initiatives to improve miner health and safety, and 2011 saw the second-fewest miner deaths on record

DMU Timestamp: May 03, 2012 23:39