Obama’s Environmental Plans Make Headlines

While the G20 Summit and the world economic crisis may be front page news this week, the environment has at least controlled page two, after a week of climate talks, land preservation and energy efficiency incentives.

The week kicked off with United Nations Climate Change Talks held in Bonn, Germany. President Obama’s climate change team debuted at the talks, with U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern, pledging to “make up for lost time.” The President recently set aside $80 billion of the economic stimulus package for green energy and research.

The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 will protect areas like the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan. Photo: wallgall.com.

The two-week meeting of 175 nations and 2,600 delegates began on Sunday and is the latest stage of talks aimed at forming a global climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012. The agreement is set to be finalized in December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Also making news this week, was the Presidential signing of legislation setting aside two million acres of wilderness for protection in nine states.

The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which is a collection of 170 separate measures, represents one of the largest wilderness protection expansions in twenty-five years. Lawmakers in both parties have said the law with strengthen the U.S. national park system, preserve wild and scenic rivers, restore national forests and restore balance to the management of public lands.

It Starts at Home

Settling into the 132-room White House, President Obama has begun a green makeover of the famous D.C. mansion. The White House has received makeovers of this kind in the past, such as in 1993 when President Bill Clinton launced the “Greening the White House” project, which saved more than $1.4 million in energy costs in its first six years. During President George W. Bush’s two terms, a recycling program and solar heating system was set up.

For those who have been involved in past efforts to make the White House more environmentally friendly, they are the first to admit there is plenty more work to be done.

“It’s definitely time to revisit it,” says Bill Browning, part of President Clinton’s Greening the White House team. “The green building movement has evolved quite a bit since then.”

The President and his White House staff have started taking small steps toward green improvements of the mansion. Michelle Obama recently broke ground on an organic herb and vegetable garden, the housekeeping staff have switched to green cleaning supplies and an environmentally friendly wooden swing set was installed on a cushion of recycled rubber tires for the kids.