Research and development of clean coal technology, especially carbon capture and sequester (CCS), has been given priority in the new Clean Energy Research Center, a joint venture announced by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The center will be supported by both public and private funding of at least $150 million over five years, evenly divided between the two nations.
The presidents also announced several joint projects between American and Chinese companies that are developing CCS technologies, including one between General Electric and Shenhua Corporation.
President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a joint Clean Energy Research Center, which would use at least $150 million over five years of both public and private funding -- split evenly between the two nations -- for research and development of clean energy technologies.
With climate change legislation in the Senate stalled and the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill not gaining a foothold in the upper chamber, the administration has conceded that a binding global treaty cannot be signed during the December U.N. climate negotiations in Copenhagen. At an Asia Pacific summit, President Obama endorsed the idea of forging a "political agreement" that would lay the groundwork for a legally binding treaty to be negotiated later in 2010.
Many experts say that the stalled U.S. climate change legislation has delayed international talks, since some of the world's other biggest polluters, namely the developing countries of China and India, are unwilling to commit to greenhouse gas emissions cuts without a firm reduction target put forth by the United States. For its part though, the U.S. is hesitant to name a specific target without first passing domestic climate change legislation and also without commitments from other countries.
Obama tapped Rajiv Shah, 36, to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development, taking a step toward filling a post that has lacked a permanent administrator for 10 months. The vacancy has drawn the ire of the aid community.
The House passed its health care reform bill, which would establish a national health insurance exchange where consumers could compare plans and find the most affordable option. It also offers subsidies to middle- and low-income individuals and families to help them purchase insurance.
The House passed its health care reform bill, which encourages hospitals to adopt electronic health records.
The House passed its health care reform bill, which would ban insurance companies from denying coverage or dropping patients due to health conditions.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced joint regulations that increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and create the first-ever federal standard to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. According to the two agencies, the new standards will help increase fuel economy by about 5 percent every year.
These standards follow through on Obama's announcement in May calling for an increase in CAFE standards from 27.5 mpg to 35.5 mpg by 2016.
The USDA launched a new program entitled "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food," as part of an effort to connect people with the origins of their food and encourage the development of local food systems. In the first week, USDA plans to announce initiatives with $65 million in new funding.
"Reconnecting consumers and institutions with local food producers will stimulate economies in rural communities, improve access to healthy, nutritious food for our families and decrease the amount spent of resources to transport our food," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. He also released a YouTube video, which appears below.
On the 200th day since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced an additional $172 million for environment and water projects in 24 states. This places the total stimulus spending on water and environment projects thus far at $1.636 billion.
