President Obama on Tuesday ordered several federal agencies to get companies to participate in his administration’s effort to protect the environment.
The White House memo directed the Defense, Interior and Agriculture departments, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the EPA, to prevent any net loss of natural resources from federal actions, with the exception of activities relating to “military testing, training and readiness activities.”
Obama told the agencies’ directors: “We all have a moral obligation to the next generation to leave America’s natural resources in better condition than when we inherited them,” and he ordered them to find ways to bring in private businesses and nonprofits in those efforts.
“To the extent allowed by an agency’s authorities, agencies are encouraged to pay particular attention to opportunities to promote investment by the non-profit and private sectors in restoration or enhancement of natural resources to deliver measurable environmental outcomes related to an established natural resource goal, including, if appropriate, as part of a restoration plan for natural resource damages or for authorized investments made on public lands,” he wrote.
Obama also called for streamlined and transparent processes to help companies participate. “Agencies should take action to increase public transparency in the implementation of their mitigation policies and guidance,” he stated.
Obama’s request comes just as Senate Republicans are seeking to overturn new Environmental Protection Agency rules under the Clean Water Act, and half the country’s states filed suit over power plant regulations.
On Friday, the White House will host a nuclear energy summit to highlight his “administration’s clean energy strategy and the role that nuclear energy can play in mitigating climate change and providing energy security.”
