The Administration is also investing in next generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol.  This can be made from wood chips, switch grass, and other agriculture products.  With the President's 2009 Budget, the Department of Energy has dedicated about $1 billion since 2001 to develop technologies that can make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive.  Since the President took office, the projected cost of cellulosic ethanol has dropped by more than 60 percent. 

Last year, the U.S. produced about 450 million gallons of biodiesel – up 80 percent from 2006.  Today, there are more that 650 biodiesel fueling stations, and hundreds of fleet operators use biodiesel to fuel their trucks.  Every year, more Americans are realizing the benefits of biodiesel, which can produce fuel from soybeans and other vegetable oils, including waste products like recycled cooking grease. 

Over the last five years, the U.S. Government has invested about $1.2 billion in hydrogen research and development to help bring hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to market.  These vehicles use no gasoline at all, and emit clean, pure water. 

Since 2001, the U.S. has increased wind energy production by more than 300 percent.  Last year, more than 20 percent of new electrical generating capacity added in the U.S. came from wind – up from just three percent a few years ago – and the U.S. installed more wind power capacity than any other country in the world.

President Bush supports an increase in the use of nuclear power as a clean, efficient energy source to meet America's growing needs for electricity.  Nuclear power can generate massive amounts of electricity without causing any air pollution or emitting greenhouse gases, and a growing number of people believe it is an environmentally necessary choice. 

• Last year, the Administration invested more than $300 million in nuclear energy technologies.

• The Administration also launched a partnership between industry and the U.S. Government called the Nuclear Power 2010 program.  This program has resulted in six applications to build and operate new nuclear plants in the U.S., with another 13 applications expected to be submitted this year.

The United States is forming international partnerships to pursue clean sources of renewable energy. 

• The Administration is leading the way toward an international agreement to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases.  This agreement will only be effective if it includes binding commitments by every major economy, developing or developed, and gives none a free ride. The U.S. is promoting consensus toward commitments by every major economy so as to promote post-2012 arrangements that are global and environmentally effective. 

• To accelerate this effort, the Administration launched a series of meetings of the world's major economies, which use the most energy and emit the most greenhouse gases.  The purpose of these meetings is to support the UN negotiations by recommending a collective long-term goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, commitments to national mid-term goals with plans to back them up, and ways to cooperate on goals and technology in key industrial sectors.

• Internationally, the U.S. launched the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, with 21 partners so far, to pursue technology breakthroughs to support the long-term expansion of clean, safe, proliferation-resistant nuclear power here and around the world – and figure out better ways to deal with the waste.

• President Bush is committing $2 billion over the next three years to create a new international clean energy technology fund to help address the growing problem of accelerating greenhouse gas emissions in major developing countries.  Along with contributions from the U.K., Japan, and other countries around the world, this fund will increase and accelerate the deployment of cleaner, more efficient technologies in developing nations like India and China and help leverage substantial private-sector capital by making clean energy projects more financially attractive.  The U.S. believes countries seeking access to the fund should be undertaking credible national plans to limit greenhouse gases and have those plans reflected in a post-2012 climate change agreement.

• In 2007, U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced that the United States and European Union submitted a proposal – in the WTO – to increase global trade in environmental goods and services.  The initiative places priority action on technologies directly linked to addressing climate change and energy security. The U.S. and EU proposed to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental technologies and services through a two tiered approach:

  1.       A first-ever WTO agreement on worldwide elimination of tariffs on a specific list of climate friendly technologies recently identified by the World Bank.

  2.       A higher level of commitment on the part of the developed and the most advanced developing countries to eliminate barriers to trade across a broader range of other environmental technologies and an array of environment-friendly services.

• Working with Sweden to advance biofuel and clean vehicle technologies
• Cooperating with Brazil to promote biofuels research, production, and use in the hemisphere and beyond.
• Cooperating with China to expand biofuel production and improve energy efficiency for vehicles and industry
• Working via a U.S. company with the United Kingdom's Wave Hub to harness the power of the ocean

DOE - AMERICA INVESTING IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

(FACT - Process)

EPA - Climate Change Technology Program - US is investing millions in energy technology

(FACT - Policy and Programs in action)

Climate Change Technology Program

CCTP is a multi-agency, planning and coordination entity that assists the government in carrying out the President's National Climate Change Technology Initiative. It is managed by the Department of Energy and organized around five technology areas for which working groups have been established. EPA participates in all of the working groups and chairs the group focused on reducing emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases.

EPA - Climate Change Technology Program - The US is working to gather partners in building new cleaner technology.

(FACT - Policy and Programs in action)

Climate Change Technology Program Vision and Framework

The CCTP vision is to attain - on a global scale in partnership with others - a technological capability that can provide abundant, clean, secure, and affordable energy and related services needed to encourage and sustain economic growth, while simultaneously achieving substantial reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and mitigating the risks of potential climate change.

CCTP has developed a Vision and Framework document that provides overall planning guidance and strategic direction for Federal agencies contributing to climate change-related technology research and development. The full CCTP Vision and Framework for Strategy and Planning report is available on the CCTP Web site.

EPA - Climate Change Technology Program - US Strategic Plan and spending of $3 billion dollars to reach goals

(FACT - Policy and Programs in action)

Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan

The CCTP draft Strategic Plan provides strategic direction and organizes about $3 billion in federal spending for climate change-related technology research, development, demonstration, and deployment - needed both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and power economic growth. The plan is organized around six complementary strategic goals. (PDF, 52 pp., 3188 KB)

The first five are focused on developing technologies that when applied will

1. reduce emissions from energy end-use and infrastructure;
2. reduce emissions from energy supply, particularly by development and commercialization of no- or low-emission technologies;
3. capture, store and sequester CO2;
4. reduce emissions of non-CO2 GHGs;
5. enhance the measurement and monitoring of GHG emissions.

The sixth strategic goal is to strengthen the contributions of basic science to climate change technology development.

EPA - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS - The bills and laws trying to be passed in Congress.

(FACT - EVENTS)

EPA - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS - Liberman-Warner.

(FACT - BILL TO PASS)

March 2008 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Analysis of Senate Bill S.2191 in the 110th Congress, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008

You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (S.2191) is designed to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through the development of a market driven system of tradable allowances.

EPA - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS - Low Carbon Economu Act.

(FACT - BILL TO PASS)

January 2008 - Part 2 of The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Analysis of Senate Bill S.1766 in the 110th Congress, the Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007

The Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007 (S.1766) is designed to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the production and use of energy. Part 2 of the request from Senators Bingaman and Specter was to analyze the economic impacts of S.1766.

EPA - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS - Low Carbon Economy Act.

(FACT - BILL TO PASS)

September 2007 - Part 1 of The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Analysis of Senate Bill S.1766 in the 110th Congress, the Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007

The Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007 (S.1766) is designed to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the production and use of energy. The request to analyze S.1766 from Senators Bingaman and Specter has two main parts: 1) analyze historic and projected global GHG concentrations, and 2) analyze the economic impacts of S.1766.

EPA - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS - The Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act.

(FACT - BILL TO PASS)

EPA - ECONOMIC ANALYSIS - Clean Air Planning Act

(FACT - BILL TO PASS)