Green Progress Report: Obama at Five Months

It’s been a busy first five months for President Barack Obama and his new administration. Between managing a devastating financial crisis, trying to pull the U.S. out of a recession and commanding two wars, one might wonder how any other priorities make it onto his agenda.

Yet, the President has managed to move forward on many environmental issues, even in this short period of time. Some environmental groups argue that he has not gone far enough, and that he’s made too many compromises; others worry that the regulations will end up hurting businesses and costing consumers too much money. Still, a look at the areas in which Obama and congress have been involved lately provides plenty of fodder for debate.

"How we produce and use energy is fundamental to our economic recovery, but also our security and our planet," Obama says. "And we know that we can't afford to tackle these issues in isolation." Photo: Independent.co.uk

Stimulating the Green Economy

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (also known as the stimulus package) is filled with a host of environmental measures.

The bill contains more than $70 billion in funding and $20 billion in tax incentives intended to develop, promote and support a green economy. Some of the highlights include:

• $25 billion to improve the nation’s electricity grid and to improve efficiency in government buildings and low-cost housing
• $10 billion toward research into renewable sources of electricity and automobile efficiency
• $20 billion for public transportation and rail improvements, including the development of high-speed rail lines
• Nearly $10 billion for environmental cleanup projects and to support clean water access, especially in rural communities
• $6 billion for climate research and to promote the development of science and engineering jobs within the U.S.

Action From the Other Green Branch

Last week the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a massive bill that is the first of its kind to seriously regulate greenhouse gas emissions. While the bill still needs to make it through a deeply divided Senate, it contains bold steps intended to address global warming. Too bold, or not bold enough, depends on whom you ask, but the ball is moving, and we may soon see Obama sign into law a bill containing some version of the following provisions:

• Most notable is the cap-and-trade system, which allows companies who emit fewer greenhouse gasses (GHG) to swap with those who do, even as the net allowable limit shrinks from year to year. Eventually, the economic and legal incentives to shift away from GHG will turn industries away from their use.
• The bill requires the U.S. to reduce its GHG emissions to 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.
• Several provisions within the 1,300-page bill are intended to steer public utilities toward the use of renewable energy, while others deal with improving the energy efficiency of buildings (the largest emitters of GHG in the U.S.).
• Taxpayers will bear some of the costs of this shift, but most provisions are not set to go into effect until 2012 when, hopefully, the current economic crisis will have passed.

Executive and Cabinet Power

President Obama and his Cabinet have also been busy issuing orders to address a host of policies, from auto emissions to federal land management. Here are some highlights from his various departments:

• In May, the Obama administration issues new fuel efficiency standards for autos sold in the U.S., starting in 2012. They are among the toughest ever set, but they will yield a savings of nearly 2 billion barrels of oil –and the GHG emissions from their combustion– over the lives of these vehicles.
• The Interior Department reversed a Bush administration decision to allow oil drilling near Arches and Canyonland National Parks and tabled plans for offshore drilling.
• They also reversed rules allowing mountaintop removal coal mines to dump their waste near streams and have slowed the process of permitting companies to extract oil shale, a costly and environmentally devastating process.
• Obama has signaled that he intends to regulate the emissions of power plants as well, but that may be covered in the Clean Energy Act, assuming it eventually finds its way to his desk.

All of these actions are encouraging signs that this administration takes climate change and resource management seriously, and with the Kyoto Protocol set to run out in 2012, the U.S. may emerge as a leader in December, when the world’s nations convene in Copenhagen to develop a new climate policy.