White House Unveils Plan to Boost Environmental Technology

The White House on Monday released its plan to work with the private sector to promote environmental technologies, which it said will create high-wage jobs and cut the costs of cleaning up pollution.

“We are committed to promoting a new generation of innovative environmental technologies that will give us a healthier environment, a greater market share for U.S. companies and more jobs for American workers,” Vice President Al Gore said.

Gore was scheduled to outline the environmental technology promotion today at a hazardous waste recycling plant in Fall River, Mass.

Parts of the plan are already in the works to try to capture a larger share of the global market for environmental goods, which is expected to reach as much as $500 million by the end of the decade.

“If our environmental technology industry is to remain competitive in the global marketplace, we must implement actions today that will be responsive to tomorrow’s problems and needs,” Gore said.

The White House released its plan as environmentalists geared up for the 25th Earth Day celebration on Saturday.

Gore said the plan calls for providing federal sites where U.S. companies can test and demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies.

It also calls for streamlining the federal permit process to get new technologies into the marketplace sooner, reworking environmental regulations to give businesses more flexibility to meet goals, helping U.S. environmental businesses compete in the world market, and shifting the emphasis from pollution cleanup to prevention.

The plan proposes a national goal of generating 40% to 50% less waste.