Investing in Clean Energy

Bioenergy is a means to achieve all of these objectives -- to heat our homes, to fuel our vehicles, to power our factories while producing virtually no greenhouse gas pollution. President Clinton, Remarks on Developing and Promoting Biobased Products and Bioenergy, August 12, 1999

At the start of his first term, President Clinton expressed his desire to move away from coal and oil and to use cleaner and cheaper alternatives and he enacted several measures to reach these goals.

To develop and promote bio-based products and bioenergy, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13134 on August 12, 1999. While presenting this EO, President Clinton stated that he would like to triple the nation’s use of bioenergy and bioproducts by 2010 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million tons a year – the equivalent of taking more than 70 million cars off the road.

The Clinton administration’s energy tax policy focused on reducing petroleum demand through incentives for energy efficiency, alternative fuels, and alternative-fueled vehicles. President Clinton’s budget proposals included increases in investment in bio-based technologies, promising both environmental protection and more jobs and income for farmers. President Clinton also proposed extending a tax credit for electricity produced from biomass and expanding the types of biomass eligible for the credit.

During the eight years of the Clinton administration, in support of the idea that environmentally-friendly policy can support a strong economy, 130,000 new jobs were created in environmental industries such as recycling, renewable energy, waste management and environmental clean-ups. Also, exports based on environmental technology and industry more than doubled, increasing from $9.4 million in 1993 to $20 million in 1999.