Obama Tasks Interior Dept. with Conservation, Energy Security, Science-based Policy

Building the Green Economy, Renewable Resources, Water Scarcity :: Comments (0)

3 March 2009 :: by staff

Pres. Barack Obama today visited the Interior Dept., noting it was once called in jest “the Department of Everything Else”, a government agency with responsibility for nearly 1/5 of the entire land area of the United States. He professed his intention to task the Interior Dept. with taking major steps to help build green infrastructure for an energy economy based on solar-voltaic and wind-turbine-generated energy.

Obama said his budget plan would devote money to the Interior Dept. to provide clean drinking water for rural areas, and build improved schools with 21st century technology for Native American communities.

“Today I signed a memorandum that will help restore the scientific process to its proper place at the heart of the endangered species act”, Obama said, noting that the role of science in protecting endangered species and conserving natural resources had been diminished by those who sought to profit from exploiting natural resources.

Obama said that “smart, sustainable” policy was the best way to carry out the stewardship required of the Interior Dept., so that natural resources found on that land, including sometimes fragile ecosystems that provide real natural services, can be protected and preserved for optimal use, far into the future.

There is a media battle shaping up among proponents and opponents of “clean coal” technology. Environmental groups warn that “there is no such thing as clean coal”, while the Clean Coal campaign backed by the coal industry is using Pres. Obama’s campaign footage to position their industry as a way to create jobs and combat the climate crisis.

Obama used the event as an opportunity to inform the public about the many and diverse responsibilities of the Interior Department, including the management of land-leases relating to use of public lands for the development of energy resources. He pledged to spend billions every year to direct energy projects toward greener, less environmentally costly technologies.

The president also spoke of the Department’s responsibility for federal government relations with Native American tribes and reservations, and pledged funding for schools and other facilities that would enable Native American populations to diversify the range of jobs and services they could engage in order to build a more vibrant, self-sustaining future.

Each of these priorities, including conservation of the natural environment and the building of new resources to help provide clean, affordable drinking water for rural communities without the resources to upgrade infrastructure for themselves, are aimed at ensuring the success of a complex process of greening the economy while securing a sustained economic recovery.