White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy

The White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy was a new government entity in the United States created by President Barack Obama by Executive Order, by-passing Congress during his first term in office. Its first director was Carol Browner, who was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the eight years of the Bill Clinton administration. The office was created in order to coordinate administration policy on energy and climate change, but was eventually defunded by Republican efforts in Congress in 2011.

Energy and climate change policy of the Barack Obama administration
President Obama launched the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change, to facilitate candid dialogue among key developed and developing countries regarding efforts to advance clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For the new forum, President Obama invited the leaders of 16 major economies and the Secretary General of the United Nations to designate representatives to participate in a preparatory session at the U.S. Department of State that occurred on April 27-28 in Washington, D.C. This and other preparatory sessions culminated in a 17-nation MEF meeting meeting, as part of the 35th G8 summit which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi agreed to host in La Maddalena, Italy in July 2009. The G8 summit was subsequently moved to L'Aquila, Italy, as part of an attempt to redistribute disaster funds after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. The forum took place on July 9, 2009.

Elimination of Office
In April 2011 it was reported that Congress would no longer fund the office in the 2011 budget. On March 2, 2011 the White House announced that the climate and energy work done by the office would move under the umbrella of the Domestic Policy Council, thereby eliminating it as a standing White House Office.

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