Update ... DOE involved in interagency work group

On Earth Day 1993, President Clinton asked the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a National Export Strategy for Environmental Technologies. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Development, Office of Environmental Management, Clyde Frank, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Cooperation, Office of Policy, Planning, and Program Evaluation, Jessie Harris represented DOE in the Interagency Environmental Technology Export Work Group which was formed to prepare a report describing the Clinton Administration's environmental technologies export strategy. The group solicited input from numerous agencies and a diverse group of stakeholders on how to increase the rate at which U.S. environmental technologies are commercialized and deployed and ways to establish new links between the federal government and the environmental industry. Throughout the summer and fall of 1993, members of the work group met regularly and completed a report that was released by the White House on November 22, 1993.

The National Export Strategy for Environmental Technologies report presents a framework to give U.S. companies opportunities for trade development, promotional support, and technical assistance for increasing exports and creating U.S. jobs, while fostering sound environmental stewardship. The strategy addresses existing domestic and international obstacles that currently hinder entry into the global market, and provides for effective federal support for exports. The plan focuses on a strong public-private partnership and improved coordination. It proposes the following.

• Establish an Environmental Trade Advisory Committee to provide guidance for the promotion of U.S. environmental technology exports;
• Engage U.S. business in developing promising new markets by creating unified market-specific export strategies;
• Establish environmental technology information clearinghouses in regionally centralized locations;
• Place environmental technology specialists in key U.S. trade positions overseas to support U.S. exports;
• Establish a Latin America Environmental Initiative to target expanding export opportunities in Latin America;
• Increase access to export financing for environmental technology firms;
• Promote a well designed and cost-effective domestic environmental policy framework that will stimulate the development, use, and export of innovative environmental technologies.

The environmental technologies industry includes goods, services, and technologies that clean up and monitor the environment, and prevent pollution. The Organization from Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that U.S. output in this industry was approximately $80 billion in 1990. Research indicated that 20,000 U.S. jobs are created for every $1 billion worth of exports. The Clinton administration is attempting to maximize the U.S.'s export capability.