In his final term as president, the hope is that Obama will continue to support and promote a greener economy.
Nov 8 2012 - President Obama’s convincing re-election is good news for the policy agenda of green building, renewable energy and energy efficiency. While the country’s fiscal and economic woes will cut overt subsidies and curb new spending proposals, the Administration’s strong policy preference for green energy, green buildings and green job creation will certainly remain; throughout, I would expect federal officials to be challenged by the President’s team to see how much they can do to promote this agenda without spending new money.
We are likely to continue to see Executive Orders, administrative mandates, grants and loans, along with other policy instruments used to continue greening of the Defense Department and GSA buildings, bringing sustainability concerns into affordable housing and strengthening the nation’s green energy infrastructure. We are likely to see the Republican House capitulate on some of these policy issues, e.g., withdrawing the “no LEED” requirement for Defense Department and GSA projects, simply because reduced numbers, fiscal policy, budgets and other issues are likely to preoccupy them.
What we are NOT likely to see is a return to the first two years of “anything goes”: DOE solar technology loan programs, a “green jobs” czar and other policy and program initiatives that fell upon hard times. We are also more likely to see greater use of “federalism,” with waivers, grants and other methods employed to let states experiment with accelerating green jobs, green energy, green building and energy efficiency when using federal money for projects and programs. read more>>>
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