Thanks to President Obama, America goes green

Since President Obama is at the White House, I am finding it hard to keep up with all his projects of sustainability. From transport  to energy or tackling climate change, there are many initiatives.

TreeHugger mentioned seven large topics showing that I was right when stating that the new US President is a new hope for a planet in peril as he helps his country to become more environmentally friendly.

There are still many other things to be done but I am confident that Barack Obama’s mandate(s) will be remembered for decades for the actions on energy.

To TreeHugger:

Okay, sure—Obama’s only been in office for a couple months now, and we’re getting all congratulatory. But there’s a reason for that: many of the ideas he and his administration have come out with so far are pretty damn good ones. And there have been plenty of them, too. These 7 are the best he’s come up with so far. (…)

Funding Renewable Energy

Obama seems to know how important investing in clean and renewable energy is–it was a key part of his campaign rhetoric, and he’s beginning to deliver on his promises. Maybe not with the amount of funding many would like to see, but he’s stimulating very real progress on the alternative energy front nonetheless. (…) Promoting and funding renewables is vital to our nation’s energy future—Obama has the right idea in throwing his weight behind it.

Getting a Carbon Cap off the Ground

(…) he’s the first president to take a serious stance on reigning in carbon emissions—and he’s forced the topic into the national conversation in a way that the Lieberman-Warner bill never could. He’s prompted the Democrats to unveil an even more aggressive bill. And by instigating the EPA to consider regulating carbon itself (more on that later) he’s pushing the issue in a very big way.

Joining the International Dialogue on Global Warming

Far from Obama’s most revolutionary green idea and closer to a downright no-brainer, it’s still worth highlighting his willingness to participate in the global dialogue on climate change. (…) Obama has pledged that the US will take the lead in fighting climate change, and backed up his words by scheduling a number of meetings with 16 major economies to pave the way for an international climate treaty to be as successful as possible.

Building a High Speed Rail Corridor

Here’s one that’s already been approved, and is indisputably a great project: setting up a high speed rail corridor in the US. There was $8 billion in the stimulus allotted for building high speed rail, and $5 billion more in the budget to divvy up between states. The most common complaint here is the obvious one–$13 billion isn’t enough. But it’s $13 billion more going to high speed rail than last year–and it’s attracting public interest. (…)

Setting a National Auto Emissions Standard

After meeting with California representatives and automakers in an attempt to have the state begin setting its own emission standards, it seemed the Obama administration had bigger things on its mind. News soon broke that Carol Browner, Obama’s climate czar, was leading the administration in a charge to set a national auto emissions standard. (…)

Moving the EPA to Regulate CO2

One of the most important things the Obama administration has done for the environment is mobilized the EPA to actively take on greenhouse gas emissions. By nullifying a memo by the Bush administration, and setting up a national system where companies will be required to report their greenhouse gases, the EPA is setting the stage to help reign in carbon emissions nationwide. Now, getting the EPA involved in the regulation process for greenhouse gases is a good idea. (…) To those opposed, he presents a choice of the lesser two evils—to those concerned with climate change, he presents an opportunity for major change.

Pushing the Smart Grid

Obama started talking about a Smart Grid way back on the campaign trail—and though it’s not his innovation, he’s been effective in getting the idea to gain traction. He’s even motivated Harry Reid to draft transmission legislation to help further the aim. Another initiative from the stimulus bill, modernizing the US power grid is an important undertaking that could hugely increase energy efficiency and save a ton of electricity. There’s $11 billion included in the stimulus to get the ball rolling.

But there is another topic that caught my attention in the previous months. Indeed, President Obama is willing to cut the energy consumption of buildings as 2 million housings will be insulated for the poorest populations.

Now if the United States want to insulate more houses, a zero-interest rate loan might be the solution.

I am sure I forgot something among these projects, do you think of any ?