Addressing Global Climate Change

Federal Energy and Carbon Sequestration Programs

“Today, we have a chance to move beyond the environmental debates of the past, debates that centered around regulation and lawsuit—what I like to call the command and control era of environmental policy, where all wisdom that seemed to emanate out of Washington, D.C., where things got hamstrung and stuck because lawyers got more involved in the process than the people on the front lines of actually improving our environment. We can move beyond that through technology, and that’s what I want to discuss today. Hydrogen fuel cells represent one of the most encouraging, innovative technologies of our era. And if you’re interested in our environment and if you’re interested in doing what’s right for the American people, if you’re tired of the same old endless struggles that seem to produce nothing but noise and high bills, let us promote hydrogen fuel cells as a way to advance into the 21st century.”

President George W. Bush
Remarks on Energy Independence
The National Building Museum, February 6, 2003

Hydrogen Fuel Initiative: President Bush launched the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative in his 2003 State of the Union address. The goal is to work closely with the private sector to accelerate the transition to a hydrogen economy, both on the technology of hydrogen fuel cells and a fueling infrastructure. The President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the FreedomCAR Partnership will provide $1.7 billion over the next 5 years to develop hydrogen powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure technologies, and advanced automobile technologies, allowing for commercialization by 2020. The United States will pursue international cooperation to affect a more rapid, coordinated advance for this technology that could lead to the elimination of air pollutants and a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector worldwide.

In April 2004, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced $350 million in nationwide funding for science and research projects to establish a hydrogen economy. The $350 million represents nearly one-third of the President’s $1.2 billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative commitment in research funding to bring hydrogen and fuel cell technology from the laboratory to the showroom. Selected through a merit-reviewed, competitive process, the projects involve 30 lead organizations and include over 100 partners. Recipients include academia, industry, and DOE national laboratories.

FutureGen – Zero-Emissions, Coal-Fired Electricity Generation: In February 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would co-sponsor, with international and private sector partners, a $1 billion, 10-year demonstration project to create the world’s first coal-based, zero-emissions electricity and hydrogen power plant. This project is designed to dramatically reduce air pollution and capture and store greenhouse gas emissions. This initiative is part of an international Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, chaired by the Secretary of Energy, to work cooperatively with global partners, including developing countries, on research, development, and deployment of carbon sequestration technologies in the next decade.

Fusion Energy: In January 2003, President Bush committed the United States to participate in the largest and most technologically sophisticated research project in the world to harness the promise of fusion energy, the same form of energy that powers the sun. If successful, this $5 billion, internationally-supported research project will advance progress toward producing clean, renewable, commercially-available fusion energy by the middle of the century. International partners include the European Union, Russia, Japan, China, and South Korea.

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Home

• Introduction

Cleaner Air

• New Protective Air Quality Standards
• Clear Skies – A Clean Air Act for the 21st Century
• Clean Air Interstate Rule
• Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule
• Clean Air Mercury Rule
• Cleaner Fuels and Engines
• Clean School Bus USA Program
• Cleaner Air Partnerships
• Improving New Source Review
• Improving Visibility in America’s National Parks

Addressing Global Climate Change

• Ambitious National Goal to Reduce Emissions Intensity
• Cabinet Committee on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration
• Federal Climate Science Program
• Greenhouse Gas Reduction Initiatives
• Targeted Incentives for Greenhouse Gas Sequestration
• Proposed Guidelines for Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• International Outreach and Partnerships
• President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging
• Cleaner, More Efficient Energy Technologies
• Federal Energy and Carbon Sequestration Programs
• Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy and Hybrid and Fuel Cell Vehicles
• Natural Gas Supply
• Nuclear Energy
• Developing Cleaner Coal Technologies
• Fuel Economy Increase for Light Trucks

Cleaner Water

• Expanding and Protecting America’s Wetlands
• Cleaning Up America’s Waters
• Improving Water Quality: TMDLs
• Cleaning the Great Lakes and Controlling Invasive Species
• Cleaning Up the Hudson River
• Reducing Water Pollution from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
• Setting Standards for Industrial Sources
• Recognizing Clean Water Partners
• Community-Based Watershed Restoration Partnerships
• Restoring the Klamath Basin
• Rural Water Projects
• Restoring the Everglades
• Destin Dome
• Protecting Marine Ecosystems
• Protecting Coral Reefs
• National Marine Sanctuaries
• Establishing Individual Fishing Quota Systems
• Improving Our Coastal Waters
• Clean Beaches Strategy
• Water Conservation
• Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West

Cleaner Lands

• Reclaiming America’s Brownfields
• Redeveloping Coalfields
• Superfund
• Nuclear Waste Site Cleanup
• Cleaning Up Dangerous Abandoned Coal Mines
• Cleaning Up Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
• Hardrock Mining Rule
• Ensuring Pipeline Safety
• Promoting Recycling and Reducing Hazardous Wastes

Healthier Ecosystems

• An Historic Farm Bill – Doubling Support Conservation on America’s Farms and Ranches
• The Healthy Forests Initiative: Protecting People, Wildlife, and Ecosystems
• Stewardship Contracting
• Protecting our Trees and Forests from Invasive Species
• Interagency Wildland Fire Leadership Council
• Firewise: Helping Homeowners Prevent Catastrophic Wildfires
• National Parks – Restoring the Quality of Our Cultural, Natural, and Historic Resources
• A Commitment to Cooperative Conservation
• Drought and Fire Assistance for Natural Resources
• Protecting our National Wildlife Refuges
• Revitalizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund
• Restoring Healthy Pacific Salmon Populations
• Preserve America
• Take Pride In America
• Landowner Incentive Program
• Private Stewardship Grants Program
• New Wilderness
• Invasive Species
• Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program
• Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds
• Restoring Declining Species
• Reforestation: Planting Trees on Mined Lands

A Cleaner, Healthier World Community

• A Successful World Summit on Sustainable Development
• Methane to Markets Partnership
• International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE)
• Other International Energy Activities
• Eliminating Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
• U.S. – Russia Polar Bear Agreement
• Conserving Fish Stocks and Other Living Marine Resources

Healthier People

• Our Children and the Environment
• Reducing Lead Poisoning
• Emergency Reclamation Activities
• Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program
• Asthma Research Strategy
• Promoting Food Safety Through Pesticide Management
• Pesticide Risk Assessment
• New Recreational Trails
• Innovation in Action: Performance Track
• Reducing the Generation and Use of Hazardous Substances Through Green Chemistry

President Bush’s Performance-Based FY 2005 Budget

~DOCUMENTS~

September 2004

•   PDF File: A Record of Progress