The 2011 Plan - Presidential Climate Action Project

Clean Air Act Waiver for California (June 30, 2009)The EPA granted California a Clean Air Act waiver that allowed the state, along with 12 others, to adoptnew “Clean Car Standards”. The standards are expected to provide the following benefits to the 13participating states:metric tons between 2010 and 2030The waiver was denied under the Bush administration, but a Presidential Memorandum issued onJanuary 26, 2009 directed the EPA to reconsider.Endangered Species Program (August 2009)The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a request for proposals that incorporate climate change intothe Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (CESCF) grant program. The program providesfunding to states and territories for species and habitat conservation actions on non-federal lands. TheService cited a draft strategic plan, “Rising to the Urgent Challenges of a Changing Climate”, detailinghow the agency will incorporate climate change into its activities over 5 years. For Fiscal Year 2010 grants,the agency invited states to propose “priorities, concerns and methodological approaches to the emergingscience and potential impacts of climate change on candidate, listed, and recently recovered species”and “any revisions to the current ranking criteria that may be appropriate to incorporate the scienceand potential impacts of climate change.”People, Prosperity & Planet Program (August 27, 2009)EPA awarded 55 grants to teams of college and university students to design “creative solutions tosustainability challenges in the developed and developing world”. The $10,000 grants to each team willbe used for projects involving water, energy, agriculture, the built environment, materials and chemicals.The teams will present their designs at the 7 th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the NationalMall, where they’ll be judged. Winners will be awarded additional grants for students to implementtheir designs.Department of Interior’s Climate Change Response Strategy (September 2009)Secretary Salazar launched the DOI’s first-ever coordinated strategy to address current and future impactsof climate change. Actions include:to coordinate the Department’s response to climate change within and among the Department’sbureaus.data and management strategies.Comprehensive Reporting and Management System for Greenhouse Gases(September 2009)The EPA announced it will require large emitters to begin collecting and reporting greenhouse gas data.The requirement will cover approximately 85 percent of the country’s largest emitters and apply tonearly 10,000 facilities. Data will be put into a publically searchable database.53