THU, SEPTEMBER 17, 5:15 PM EST
Posted by Dan Wenk
With memories of his family's recent visit to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park still fresh in his mind, President Barack Obama watched a special preview of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, a new documentary by Ken Burns that will premiere on PBS September 27.
While our nation boasts many great ideas, writer and historian Wallace Stegner calls our national parks "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." In 1872, Yellowstone National Park became the first national park in the world, its creation spawning a worldwide national parks movement.
The National Park Service, on behalf of all Americans, cares for our country’s most treasured places – ones of seemingly impossible natural beauty and those that move us to remember our heroes and battles for freedom, preserve the icons of our shared heritage, honor our nation’s diverse cultures, and celebrate the triumphs of individual spirit over adversity. In addition to caring for nearly 400 national parks, the National Park Service works in communities, by providing grants and expertise, to help neighbors preserve local history and create green spaces for healthy, outdoor family fun.
The best thing about national parks is that they belong to each one of us – to visit and enjoy; to care for and preserve for our children and grandchildren. To celebrate this wonderful inheritance, we are working together to make America’s Best Idea even better! On September 26, please join the National Park Service and the
National Park Foundation in national parks across the country for a
National Day of Service and Celebration – there will be no entrance fees, and you can volunteer and celebrate by seeing the same special preview the President saw today.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook. Tell us your ideas for making our National Parks even better on the National Park Service
Facebook page, or check out the
National Park Service Facebook app and send a postcard from your favorite park to your friends. And, of course, you can always follow the
NPS Twitter feed.
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THU, SEPTEMBER 17, 9:24 AM EST
Posted by Greg Nelson
This morning on a factory floor Bensalem, PA (just outside of Philadelphia), the topic will be windows – and a window into the jobs being created in the Clean Energy Economy.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Delaware Governor Jack Markell are hosting the third of a series of regional Clean Energy Economy Forums. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be joining the Governors, along with Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy Ron Bloom and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy Amanda Dory. Watch the event live.
The Forum is being held at Accu-Weld, a family owned business based in Bensalem, PA for nearly three decades. The company is currently producing and manufacturing high-energy efficient windows and doors for the residential home market. Despite the economic downturn, Accu-Weld recently announced it would save 140 local jobs as a result of new demand in the home weatherization market, and is growing at annual rate of approximately 20 percent.
Windows will be just one of the stories that will be discussed this morning. The audience includes dairy farmers, who will talk about how the installation of a digester has helped turn their farm into an energy producer. It includes workers and executives from Pennsylvania companies that make parts for solar and wind energy. And it includes a group of recent veterans who have been speaking out about the first-hand experiences they have, and the need to address comprehensive energy and climate legislation to lesson our dependence on foreign oil. These are the stories of the Clean Energy Economy.
The forum will be webcast in full at www.pa.gov.
Greg Nelson is an Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
FRI, AUGUST 28, 1:45 PM EST
Posted by Steve Owens
Grab your video camera and get the lead out!
The dangers of lead poisoning are very serious, and health problems caused by lead can impact a child for a lifetime.
We want you to help us get the word out about lead poisoning prevention, by creating videos to educate people on what they can do to prevent lead poisoning. We’re looking for 30-60 second video on anything from the dangers of lead poisoning; how to get rid of lead hazards in homes; or the importance of children being tested for harmful levels of lead in their blood.
Entries will be accepted until October 1st.
We’ll post the best videos on the EPA, HUD and CDC web sites to get the message out about lead poisoning. The best video will receive a $2,500 First Prize.
Most importantly, you’ll be helping us get the word out on an important health issue.
In young children, lead exposure can cause learning disabilities, decreased intelligence, as well as speech, language, and behavioral problems. In older children and adults, brain and nervous system disorders, high blood pressure, and reproductive problems have all been associated with lead exposure.
EPA is taking action on a number of fronts to protect children from the lead dangers. We’ll be proposing new requirements to protect children from lead-based paint poisoning including requiring more buildings to use lead-safe work practices during renovation projects, and requiring tests to ensure the renovation cleanup work meets EPA lead dust standards.
We’re also working to address lead exposures associated with the manufacture of lead wheel weights used to balance tires. That will help prevent more than 2,000 tons of lead from being released into the environment from tire weights that fall off of automobiles.
But we need your help in getting the word out. Please send us your best, most creative video to help to inspire individuals, businesses, communities, and everyone else to avoid dangerous exposure to lead.
Remember: all entries are due October 1st, and First Prize is $2500.
Read the details at
here.
We look forward to seeing your video and thanks for helping to protect kids from lead poisoning.
Steve Owens is EPA Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances
TUE, AUGUST 18, 3:07 PM EST
Posted by Nancy Sutley
This week I have joined other Administration officials for an Arctic Observance tour to learn more about how climate change is affecting the Arctic region. We left Washington, DC early Monday morning with our team, which includes Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, Deputy Assistant to the President on Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal, and DOI Deputy Secretary David Hayes, and received a detailed briefing about the specifics of our trip to Alaska and what to expect in the coming days.
Upon our arrival in Nome, we were greeted by local officials, citizens and members of our armed forces. Immediately following, we met with local scientists on coastal erosion affecting the region.
Today we flew to Fairbanks and went to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, for presentations on the diversity of the Arctic Ocean and how climate change is impacting the region. Later today we will travel to the Permafrost Tunnel, a unique research facility that allows scientists to study the composition and behavior of ice structures and frozen bioorganics dating over 40,000 years old! Over the next three days we will continue our journey andmeet with local leaders, citizens and scientists who will share their knowledge on these issues.
Our outreach in Alaska will culminate on Friday August 21st with the first in a series of Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meetings in Anchorage. The President has charged the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, implementation options, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. These public forums are a key component to establishing a comprehensive ocean policy.
You can find more information on the Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting in Anchorage
here.
You can also follow the Coast Guard’s
blog,
photos,
Twitters,
Facebook, and
YouTube videos about our trip.
Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
THU, AUGUST 13, 1:35 PM EST
Posted by Cathy Zoi
Right now across the country, folks are getting a knock at the door from someone who is going to make their lives and homes better. As part of the Weatherization Assistance Program, low-income families are having their homes tuned-up by energy experts. These weatherization 'tune-ups' are improving comfort and saving money for householders from Florida to Utah, from Maine to Arizona -- and every state in between.
A few weeks ago thousands of these energy experts gathered at the National Weatherization conference in Indianapolis to compare notes on how to ramp up their operations quickly and effectively. They're scaling to invest $5B of Recovery Act money -- creating huge numbers of new jobs to help families become energy-efficient.
Take a moment to check out a few stories from the event -- they seem to love their work:
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Cathy Zoi is Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program or to apply for assistance, visit: www.weatherization.energy.gov
FRI, AUGUST 7, 4:39 PM EST
Posted by Secretary Steven Chu
Here’s a trivia question for today:
What do a Boeing 777 and a Bar-Tailed Godwit have in common? The Bar-Tailed Godwit is a bird, but that’s the only hint I’m giving you. And no fair cheating by using Google.
Stumped? Find the answer (and what it has to do with energy independence) on
my Facebook page.
TUE, AUGUST 4, 12:20 PM EST
Posted by Cammie Croft
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We're moving full speed ahead toward a 21st century, clean energy economy. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we've already invested more than $60 billion toward the green jobs of tomorrow. But as we're moving ahead, we've got to make sure we're not leaving others behind.
That's what makes programs like the Green the Block campaign so important. Green the Block is a partnership between Green for All and the Hip Hop Caucus to educate and mobilize low-income, traditionally under-served communities to ensure they have the resources and platforms needed to access the benefits and opportunities of the growing clean energy economy.
Today, several Obama Administration officials -- including Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Department of Energy Under Secretary Kristina Johnson -- and members of Green the Block held a press conference outside the West Wing offices of the White House to discuss opportunities in the new green economy and announce the first major initiative of Green the Block.
"From policy creation to community implementation, the Green the Block campaign wants to see access and opportunity created for all Americans, to build prosperity and a healthier planet for future generations," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. of the Hip Hop Caucus. "The first milestone for Green the Block will be on our National Day of Service, September 11, 2009, where we will organize Green the Block service events around the country in coordination with the President's initiative, United We Serve."
"We are ready to work, ready to serve, and ready to green our blocks," added Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green for All.
Learn more about our efforts toward building a clean energy economy today at 3pm EDT during the live chat on Facebook or at WhiteHouse.gov/live/discuss with CEQ's Van Jones and Christine Glunz. [UPDATE: This event has now concluded.]
FRI, JULY 31, 4:13 PM EST
Posted by Kol Peterson
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency’s survey vessel, the BOLD, is surveying the New England coast, from Boston Harbor to the Penobscot Bay in Maine. Two EPA scientists are giving constant updates from the vessel about their experience. Frankly, it looks windy and rainy out there, but coastal monitoring is a long term initiative that goes on rain or shine.
For budding ocean scientists, EPA has put together a great site that catalogs this week long coastal New England survey. So, stay tuned in to their adventures this week aboard the BOLD and cross your fingers for starry skies.
For more information about EPA's BOLD program, visit http://www.epa.gov/bold/.
TUE, JULY 21, 11:59 AM EST
Posted by Nancy Sutley
Check out the new and improved White House Council on Environmental Quality
website! Our hope is to keep visitors informed on what is happening at CEQ and CEQ’s environmental priorities and activities. One of the major duties of the Council is to foster and promote environmental quality to meet the conservation, social, economic, and health goals of the Nation. Through our site, you can find up-to-date news on CEQ projects and announcements. The site gives some insight into areas we are focusing on in the environment and provides opportunities to give CEQ feedback and input on environmental initiatives.
Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. TUE, JULY 21, 10:22 AM EST
Posted by Secretary Steven Chu
When we heard Energy Secretary Steven Chu was joining Facebook to start a conversation about solving today's energy challenges, we invited him to write a post to tell you about it.
I recently joined Facebook because I want to talk with you directly about solving the energy and climate change challenge and ensuring America’s leadership in a clean energy economy. I hope you will check out my new page at http://www.facebook.com/stevenchu
I’m excited by the chance to share what the Obama Administration is doing to bring about a revolution in clean energy. We are finding innovative ways to use energy more efficiently, working to deploy clean energy technologies like solar and wind power, and conducting cutting edge research to find the next generation of clean technologies. I will keep you up to date on all the latest developments, as well as share tips that will save you money on your energy bills.
But I also want to hear from you about what you’re doing in your communities and the steps you think we should take as a nation. I hope we can have a true dialogue because every American can and must play a role in this effort.
