In his February 22, 1993, statement on Technology for America's Economic Growth, President Clinton's foremost goal is "long-term economic growth that creates jobs and protects the environment." In establishing this goal, the President rejected the conventional view that economic growth and environmental quality are inversely related that is, that gains in one produce setbacks in the other.
Today's high fuel and waste-disposal costs, stiff business competition, and high levels of national and international environmental awareness have fundamentally changed the economic growth/environment equation. Inefficient industrial practices that were economically and environmentally practical just 10 years ago are no longer viable. Today, such waste is too costly to business competitiveness and to our environment, especially with growing concern over urban air quality and global warming.
The Clinton Administration is working with the U.S. business and research communities to promote the development and deployment of new technologies that simultaneously prevent pollution, increase energy efficiency, and promote economic growth. Clean technologies such as energy-efficient light bulbs and motors, alternative fuel cars, and advanced steel making reduce air pollutants and other pollutants. Such technologies also reduce the energy needs of U.S. companies, trimming costs, improving international competitiveness, freeing up money for capital investments, and reducing the Nation's energy trade deficit. The result is improved environmental quality and long-term economic growth.
Adding to these positive effects are the tremendous opportunities for increasing U.S. exports of environmental technologies. Over the next decade, developing nations will be expanding their economies fivefold, while the global population doubles. Limited capital and rising world demands for environmentally responsible production will make traditional resource-inefficient development impractical. Sustainable development, based on energy efficient, environmentally benign processes, is the necessity of the future.
The United States is the world's leading producer of environmental technologies with 35 percent of the current market. The Clinton Administration is working to ensure that America maintains and improves its leadership position in this growing global market.
Since release of the February policy statement, the Administration has launched new initiatives and strengthened existing programs to accomplish its national energy and environmental objectives. Together, these programs represent a coordinated, government-wide effort to:
This plan, released in October, presents the Administration's strategy for reducing the growth of greenhouse gases linked to global warming. The plan will reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2000 to 1990 levels. It includes more than 50 new or expanded initiatives, relying primarily on increased energy efficiency. It will stimulate investments in technologies of the future, strengthening America's position in the global environmental technology marketplace. The Administration proposes to support the program with $1.9 billion largely through redirected Federal funding between 1994 and 2000. This funding will leverage an additional $60 billion in private-sector investments in environmental technology. Projected energy savings from these investments total more than $60 billion between 1994 and 2000, with continued benefits of over $200 billion in energy savings between 2001 and 2010. By the year 2000, the program should reduce total annual carbon emissions by the equivalent of 109 million metric tons of carbon.
On September 29, 1993, President Clinton and Vice President Gore joined with General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler to announce an historic new partnership. The Clean Car Initiative aims to strengthen U.S. competitiveness by developing technologies for a new generation of vehicles that are both safer and up to three times more fuel efficient (80 miles per gallon or better) than today's cars. Major collaborations with the Big Three U.S. automakers are under development. On the government side, a high-level coordinating committee chaired by Under Secretary of Commerce for Tech- nology Mary Good is directing R&D in a strategic plan to avoid duplication, focus on priority areas, and make the most of existing resources. The first stage of the plan is in fast-track development, to be completed before the end of the year.
The Environmental Protection Agency in April launched its Environmental Technologies Initiative, designed to stimulate technological innovation to meet the Nation's environmental objectives. The initiative aims to create a more productive environmental technology marketplace and works toward incorporating environmental considerations into the design of new technologies and into upgrades of existing technologies. Projected funding for this initiative is $36 million for FY 1994. Funding is expected to increase over the next decade.
Following President Clinton's Earth Day charge, an interagency committee has been working with the environmental technology industry to develop a national environmental export strategy that will help coordinate public and private activities and help U.S. companies to take advantage of a world market estimated at $275 billion to $300 billion. The group has been focusing on trade development and technical assistance to increase exports of U.S. environmental technologies. Chaired by the Commerce Department with the participation of the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and 10 other agencies, the Interagency Environmental Technologies Exports Working Group will soon release a report including specific recommendations to increase these exports. The National Environmental Trade Technology Initiative demonstrates how better coordination can provide industry with critical assistance. This initiative combines the Commerce Department's export-promotion expertise with the financial capabilities of the Export-Import Bank to introduce practical solutions to environmental problems in developing countries like Mexico, which need environmentally responsible technologies. The EnviroMex '93 conference held in Mexico last month, for instance, brought together over 200 American and Mexican industry representatives interested in exploring opportunities for increased trade.
President Clinton has pushed for ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), knowing that this agreement and the supplemental agreement on environmental cooperation will enhance opportunities to export U.S. environmental technologies and create jobs at home. Many of the goods and services provided by the U.S. domestic environmental technology industry are being marketed and sold throughout Mexico. These exports are valued at about $1 billion each year and support about 27,000 jobs in the United States. As exports to Mexico grow, so will the number of jobs here and export-related jobs on average pay almost one-fifth more than other jobs. The NAFTA initiative clearly ties together the Clinton Administration's goals of American international economic competitiveness and global environmental security.
The Department of Energy has revamped its science and technology budget priorities. Dramatic increases will be seen in funding for research programs related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, natural gas, alternative fuels, and technology transfer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reallocated substantial funding to global warming and the environmental technology initiatives described above.
Similar changes are under way at other science and technology agen- cies, such as the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Expansion of NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership to meet the President's goal of 100 manufacturing extension centers across the country to help small and medium-sized companies adopt updated technologies will include an emphasis on environmentally sound manufacturing. In September, EPA and NIST announced a pilot, collaborative effort to help companies adopt pollution-prevention technologies that also reduce operating costs. The Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP), designed to assist in the transition to an integrated industrial base that can meet both defense and commercial needs, also will provide support to environmentally sound manu- facturing. Several of the initial projects selected for funding have the goal of assisting smaller companies to increase their competitiveness by matching energy, environmental, and manufacturing technology needs.
Clean Cities is a market-driven initiative developed by the Department of Energy to promote the use of alternative fuels and assist in the implementation of the Energy Policy Act. Since its September national kickoff, Denver, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Las Vegas, and Washington, DC, have been formally designated Clean Cities. The program works by establishing partnerships between Federal, State, and local governments and the private sector, including utilities, fuel suppliers, fuel distributors, auto manufacturers, and organizations committed to acquiring alternative-fueled vehicles for their fleets. Together, these groups create a fleet large enough to support an emerging refueling and maintenance infrastructure and operate on American-produced fuels, which will improve the U.S. trade deficit and decrease reliance on insecure energy sources, create jobs, and improve air quality.
The Administration has put in place, and funded at $200 million per year, the first, credible, long-term Federal R&D effort for natural gas. It focuses on strategic opportunities in end-use markets, such as ultra-high efficiency utility gas turbines, fuel cells for both industrial and automotive applications, and natural gas vehicles.
In October, the Administration launched the Motor Challenge program to provide industry leaders an opportunity to demonstrate how improved efficiency of electric motor systems can enhance industrial productivity and profitability while preventing pollution. The program is a collaboration between the Federal Government, motor manufacturers, electric utilities, and industrial motor systems users. By promoting a systems approach to electric motor system design and implementation, the program seeks the largest and most profitable opportunities for increasing industrial motor efficiency.
In FY 1993, the Department of Energy devoted $49.7 million in grants under this competitive grants program that supports phased research and development on advanced concepts and technologies related to energy and the environment. The Department hosted a Commercialization Opportunity Forum in late September. After receiving extensive training in development of a business plan for a successful SBIR project, 24 companies made presentations to 56 representatives from venture capital firms and large corporations at the forum. These contacts are expected to produce significant investment in the SBIR projects, which will result in the creation of new jobs. Growing interest in the SBIR program among U.S. businesses was evident at the program's national conference in October 1993. The meeting attracted 1,100 attendees, the largest of any such meeting in the program's history.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), and utilities issued a challenge and an opportunity to manufacturers of refrigerators: the company that could build a chlorofluorocarbon-free refrigerator that also exceeded energy performance standards would receive a guaranteed market, with the consortium making up the difference in price between the new super-efficient refrigerator and more conventional units. President Clinton has directed DOE and EPA to expand this program to additional industries to accelerate the commercialization of advanced, energy-efficient technologies through partnerships with key market players. These partnerships may include contests for new technology introductions, working with government procurement agencies to leverage their purchasing power of certain qualifying products, and working with utilities to create market incentives for new technologies.
EPA is expanding this voluntary program aimed at improving lighting efficiency. The program enlists participants who agree to survey all of their domestic facilities and upgrade their lighting wherever profitable over a period of 5 years. The program now has over 1,000 participants.
This program involves local colleges and universities in performing audits of small businesses and manufacturing plants to identify opportunities for energy-efficiency improvements and waste minimization. The Administration plans to expand this program, which currently funds about 700 audits per year. This will increase to about 2,000 per year by the year 2000.
This task force is working on a plan to convert the Federal automotive fleet to alternative fuels that are cleaner burning and less expensive. The Administration plans to use the Federal Government's purchasing power to stimulate the domestic alternative fuels market and to develop a refueling infrastructure for alternative fuel vehicles. Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. This law offers increased flexibility in how states spend their resources, thus allowing for greater flexibility and innovation. The Clinton Administration has further increased state options by expanding opportunities for states to use Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems and telecommunications strategies to meet their Clean Air goals.
EPA and DOE have proposed a new program dubbed "Climate-Wise" to encourage and recognize voluntary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Climate-Wise will reinforce statutory provisions under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and contribute to U.S. environmental objectives by allowing organizations to receive public recognition for their voluntary greenhouse gas mitigation efforts. They would be eligible by initiating actions that reduce or offset greenhouse gases, such as energy conservation and efficiency measures, switching to lower-carbon content fuels, establishing programs to encourage employees to use mass transit or carpools, or implementing carbon sequestration activities, such as urban and rural tree planting.
As a follow-on initiative to the Environmental Technology Export Strategy, the Department of Energy has proposed to develop a long-range environmental market strategy focused on the strategic market growth potential of clean production technologies.