National Energy Awareness Month, 2010

Proclamation 8576 of October 1, 2010

National Energy Awareness Month, 2010

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

America's energy resources are inextricably linked to
our continued prosperity, security, and environmental
health. When it comes to our Nation's energy future, we
face fundamental choices between action and inaction,
between embracing the possibilities of a new clean
energy economy and settling for the status quo, and
between leading the world in clean energy and lagging
behind. We must choose wisely and invest in clean
energy technologies to position our country for a
sustainable future, create new jobs, improve the health
of our environment, and lay the foundation for our
long-term economic security and prosperity.

The time to act is now. Every year our overdependence
on fossil fuels sends billions of dollars overseas to
buy foreign oil instead of supporting American workers
and farmers, rewarding innovation, and developing clean
energy industries here at home. Fossil fuel pollution
has already begun to change our climate, posing a grave
and growing danger to our economy, our national
security, and our environment.

Over the last year and a half, we have taken
unprecedented action to build a clean energy economy.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made a $90
billion down-payment on a clean energy future for our
country. This critical investment is expanding
manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies;
advancing vehicle and fuel technologies; spurring the
development of renewable fuels; and catalyzing progress
towards a bigger, better, smarter electric grid; all
while creating new jobs that cannot be shipped
overseas. My Administration also set tough new fuel-
economy standards and the first greenhouse gas
emissions standards for cars and light trucks.
Additionally, I signed an Executive Order that empowers
the Federal Government to lead by example by cutting
its energy use. As our Nation's single largest energy
consumer, the Federal Government has an obligation to
improve its energy efficiency, increase its use of
renewable energy, cut greenhouse gas pollution, and
leverage its purchasing power to advance a clean energy
economy.

Across the country, citizens themselves are helping to
lead the way. In small towns and city neighborhoods, on
college campuses and in houses of worship, in office
buildings and on the shop floor, Americans are standing
up and building a clean energy economy together through
community information, education, and action.

This progress must mark the start, not the end, of our
efforts. Today, countries around the world are
competing to create the clean energy economy and jobs
of tomorrow, and the country that harnesses the power
of clean energy will lead the global economy. As a
Nation of scientists and engineers, farmers and
entrepreneurs, we must continue to invest in clean,
domestic sources of energy, harness the innovation of
our brightest minds, promote our world-leading
industries, and find lasting solutions to our energy
challenges.

If we seize this moment, we stand to strengthen our
economy, enhance our national security, and preserve
our environment. During National Energy

Awareness Month, let us commit to embarking on a new
course to achieve our clean energy future.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 2010 as
National Energy Awareness Month. I call upon the
citizens of the United States to recognize this month
by making clean energy choices that will help build a
stronger Nation, a more robust economy, and a healthier
environment for our children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of October, in the year of our Lord two
thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.