How Energy Efficiency is "Lighting Up" the Streets of Philadelphia

Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the Department of Energy Blog. Today President Obama is travelling to the Philadelphia area to hold a town hall event with employees at Gamesa Technology Corporation, Inc. about building a 21st century clean energy economy to win the future. Watch the event live at WhiteHouse.gov/live starting at 2:10 p.m. EDT.

President Obama has made building a secure, prosperous energy future a top priority. Last week, he outlined a plan to strengthen energy security in a speech at Georgetown University. Then on Friday, he traveled to a UPS shipping facility in Landover, Maryland to announce a major milestone for the “National Clean Fleet Partnership”: Five of the largest domestic shipping companies have made commitments to reduce gasoline use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles, alternative fuels and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations.

And today, the President is holding a town hall meeting just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Gamesa Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of large-scale wind turbines, to further discuss our energy future. President Obama has proposed an ambitious, but achievable, goal of generating 80 percent of our electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. This includes sources like wind, produced in part by Gamesa turbines, as well as other renewables, natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power.

As the President outlined last week, securing our energy future will require our nation to increase our renewable energy portfolio, decrease our dependence on oil and implement energy efficiency measures in home and buildings all over the country. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be spotlighting five communities across the country that are helping make our country more secure – five communities that are “winning the future” today.

And naturally, first up today is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

President Obama on Budget Negotiations: "We Have Now Matched the Number the Speaker Originally Sought"

Speaking in the White House Briefing Room today after a meeting with Congressional Leaders of both parties, the President laid out his guiding principles for the negotiations on last year's budget and looking ahead:

From the outset, my goal has been to significantly cut our domestic spending but, at the same time, make sure we’re making key investments in things like education, infrastructure, innovation -- the things that are going to help us win the future.

He was blunt in saying that the American people expect Congress to get a deal done to avoid a government shut-down and that the consequences for our economy would be unacceptable.   He was also clear that he and Democrats in Congress “have more than met the Republicans halfway at this point” by agreeing to same dollar figure in cuts that Republican Leadership originally proposed:

One Year Later: Remembering the Miners of Montcoal

Ed. note: This was originally posted on Work In Progress, the Department of Labor blog. Read another blog post on this topic on the Middle Class Task Force blog.

One year ago today, in West Virginia, 29 men died in the worst mine disaster in 40 years.

Wives lost husbands. Parents lost sons. Children lost fathers. Neighbors lost friends.  And a community lost a big part of its soul.

Since that day, I have been convinced that the best way to honor these men is to do everything in our power so that a tragedy like this never happens again.

The administration has taken many steps to make that goal a reality.  The Mine Safety and Health Administration (a part of the U.S. Department of Labor) has made available unprecedented resources to find out what exactly happened on April 5, 2010 and we are making sure that the U.S. Department of Justice can fully prosecute any wrongdoers.

Try the New White House Tax Cut Calculator

Given that it's tax season (don't forget, Tax Day is on 4/18 this year), you might be thinking about the bipartisan tax cut compromise from December 2010 and wondering how it affects your household's bottom line.  That's why we've put together a Tax Cut Calculator and Tax Cut Checklist to help taxpayers better understand how you benefit from some of the more than 40 tax cuts signed into law by President Obama.

The brand new Tax Cut Calculator provides an easy to use tool that shows individuals and families how these tax cuts – some of which are hitting paychecks right now– will affect their taxes for 2011.  The Calculator shows the benefits of the Payroll Tax Cut, which is putting more money in the pockets of millions of workers across the country already. It also illustrates how families can benefit from three Recovery Act tax cuts that the President fought to extend – the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit.

Enough explanation, though! Take a moment to try the tax cut calculator for yourself.

We've put together a more comprehensive memo that covers important provisions of the bipartisan tax cut compromise the President signed into law last December and includes a checklist of benefits to keep in mind for those who still have yet to file their taxes this year:

Documenting America's Natural Beauty

Almost 40 years ago, the EPA started Documerica, a project that coordinated with freelance photographers to capture images of environmental problems, EPA activities, and everyday life in America. Over the project's seven-year lifespan, it compiled more than 15,000 photos. Some of the best are featured below.

From now through Earth Day 2012, EPA is asking for your submissions as a Documerica for a new generation. Photos will be featured on the EPA homepage starting April 15, 2011, and the new collection will debut in April 2012 alongside its 1970s counterpart.

Be sure to check out EPA's Earth Day page for information about the photo project and Earth Day 2011 activities.

Going Green and Saving Green

Ed. Note: Everyday the White House gets a lot of questions via Twitter. Yesterday, @WhiteHouse was asked: 

Going green is good, but costly, how is the US going to go ‘green’ energy without raising the deficit?

Check out the response from the White House Council on Environmental Quality and follow us on Twitter for the latest news from the White House and opportunities to engage with us.

When President Obama spoke to Americans in his State of the Union Address, he laid out a plan to take responsibility for our deficit by investing in what makes America stronger, and cutting what doesn’t.  And he recognized that to win the future, we must make America the best place on earth to do business and invest in a strong, modern clean energy economy. 

As long as our economy relies on oil, we will pay the price – not just in dollars spent on a finite source of energy, but also in dollars lost in a missed opportunity to become the world’s leading provider of clean energy technology. Instead of being satisfied with the energy resources of our past, we must push ourselves to create the next generation of sustainable, affordable energy solutions. 

Sustainable practices -- like investing in energy efficient technologies -- save money in the long run.  If the U.S. became 20 percent more energy efficient, we would save more than $200 billion each year.  Here are a few cost-saving programs already underway:

• The Better Buildings Initiative: The President’s Better Buildings Initiative which includes new and expanded incentives for building efficiency – would improve commercial building efficiency 20% by 2020 and help reduce energy costs for American business by $40 billion.
• HOMESTAR Program of Rebates Delivered Directly to Consumers: The Administration continues to advocate for the consumer-friendly HOMESTAR program. Like the Cash for Clunkers program, consumers would be eligible for direct HOMESTAR rebates at the point of sale for a variety of energy-saving investments in their homes.
• A Framework for Continued Growth: The “Recovery through Retrofit” initiative led by the Council on Environmental Quality and Vice President’s Middle Class Taskforce identified market-based solutions to help the energy efficiency industry overcome long-standing barriers. These policies will improve access to information about home energy use and to affordable financing, and will also help create a skilled and certified retrofit workforce.

The Federal Government is putting these principles into action in its own operations. By meeting just one of the sustainability targets President Obama has set for Federal agencies, the government will avoid up to $11 billion in energy costs by 2020.  We are also using the Federal government’s purchasing power to support American ingenuity and build the healthy and prosperous country of tomorrow.

Sahar Wali is Communications Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Investing in Reform: Strong Partnerships for Successful Students

En español.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting the Campfield Head Start Center, a National Head Start Center of Excellence in Baltimore, Maryland, with Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, the Director of Head Start at the Administration of Children and Families within the Department of Health and Human Services. During this visit, we toured the center; I read to a classroom of pre-school children; at one point, I even sang along with students to the old favorite, “If you’re happy and you know it.” This experience was such a treat for me, and it was so inspiring to see the pure innocence and joy in the faces of the students.

It’s on behalf of our youngest learners that the Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are coordinating our work on programs like Head Start. Our investment in early learning is especially important for our Latino students, who make up the largest minority in this country’s preschool population at 20 percent! We at ED are deeply committed to an education agenda that supports a continuum of learning beginning at birth for all students, and I’m honored to work with HHS to provide support for organizations like the Campfield Head Start Center.

President Obama's Green Fleet Initiative A Bold Step Forward In US Energy Use

Ed. Note: Updated with video and photo.

This afternoon, President Obama unveils his green fleet initiative which ensures that by 2015, all new vehicles purchased for Americas's federal agencies will be electric, gas-electric hybrid, or alternatively fueled.

I will stand alongside the President when he makes that announcement because the Department of Transportation will do whatever we can to support this bold new goal.

The transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of the United States’ oil use and contributes one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.  After housing, transportation is the second biggest monthly expense for most American families.  Reducing the gas consumed by our federal fleet will help relieve some of the upward pressure on gas prices.

As the President said earlier this week, “In an economy that relies so heavily on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody.”

We have the opportunity, and the obligation, to take action.  We can change both the types and the amounts of energy that our transportation systems use while also creating good, high-paying jobs and easing everyone’s burden at the pump.

Athletes, Artists, and Astronauts: Women Mentors at the White House

As Women's History Month draws to a close, First Lady Michelle Obama brought a group of America's most accomplished women to D.C. to meet with area students. Among the attendees were WNBA star Lisa Leslie, former Olympians Michelle Kwan and Dominique Dawes, actresses Geena Davis and Hillary Swank, astronaut Ellen Ochoa, Air Force General Dana Born, and almost a dozen more leaders from the worlds of business and entertainment.

First Lady Michelle Obama shares her experiences with students at Ballou High School in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Obama encouraged them to encourage them to strive for excellence while pursuing their career goals. March 30, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

During the day, the First Lady paid a visit to Ballou High School in Washington, D.C., and spoke with a group of exceptional students. She reminded them that any dream is possible through a strong education and hard work:

Barack and I were not born with silver spoons in our mouths and connections and money and resources. A lot of why we’re where we are today is because we worked hard. We felt a deep passion for getting our education.  We were motivated not by making our friends proud of us, but by making our family proud of us. And with a lot of preparation, when the opportunities presented themselves, we were ready. And you all can do the same.