Our Environment

The Recovery Act includes unprecedented funding for programs and projects that will protect the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior alone oversee nearly $11 billion in Recovery Act funding for projects that vary from green job training to marine habitat restoration to water quality improvements These investments support technological advances in science and health and improve environmental protection and infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits for Americans.

When he signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111‐11), President Obama marked the most extensive expansion of land and water conservation in more than a generation. President Obama also established the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to work with the American people to develop a community-based conservation and recreation agenda that makes sense for the 21st century. Through this initiative, the President has announced an action plan to achieve lasting conservation of the outdoor spaces that power our nation's economy, shape our culture, and build our outdoor traditions.

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The Obama Administration is aggressively working to reduce pollution in the air we breathe. We have set ambitious new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks that will raise average fuel economy to 35.5 miles per gallon for model year vehicles 2012-2016. We are also developing the first-ever national fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for commercial trucks, vans, and buses built in 2014-2018, and developing the next generation of fuel efficiency standards for model year 2017-2025 cars and light trucks.

EPA has proposed the first-ever national standards for mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollution from power plants. The new standards would require many power plants to install widely available, proven pollution control technologies to cut harmful emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases, while preventing as many as 17,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart attacks a year. These standards would also provide particular health benefits for children, preventing 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 11,000 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year.

The Obama Administration is committed to ensuring that communities overburdened by pollution – particularly minority, low-income and indigenous communities – have the opportunity to enjoy the health and economic benefits of a clean environment. The Administration has reconvened the Environmental Justice Working Group for the first time in more than a decade, and Federal agencies are working to provide all Americans with strong Federal protection from environmental and health hazards.

The Administration is modernizing and reinvigorating the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) , including outlining how Federal agencies should analyze the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in their environmental reviews. These modernizations will help ensure transparency, public engagement and accountability in Federal decisions about actions that may affect the quality of the environment.