Courtesy whitehouse.gov

The Obama administration's 2011 budget plan, released this week, includes a lot of things that have the potential to help the environment: more investments in renewable energy (including solar, wind and energy efficiency), some reduction in spending on fossil fuels, and backing for wilderness protection, clean air and water, greenhouse gas regulations and green jobs.

The drawbacks, some environmentalists say, include new loan guarantees for the nuclear power industry (with plans to support seven to 10 new nuclear plants), opportunities for more offshore oil and gas drilling, a lack of focus on endangered species protection, and the continuing imbalance between what traditional energy sources and renewable sources would receive.

"With this budget, President Obama is starting to usher in a clean energy economy," said Wesley Warren, director of programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Now it's up to Congress to deliver on the president's funding priorities for a cleaner, more secure America."

In a statement, however, Warren raised concerns about the president's proposal for additional loan guarantees to the nuclear power industry, calling them a "mistake."

"This is a mature industry that generates high-cost, non-renewable energy and dangerous waste," Warren said. "It should not receive additional taxpayer subsidies."

The marine conservation group Oceana said in a statement that it "applauds the Administration's effort to level the playing field for clean sources of energy and to save taxpayers money by cutting tax preferences for dirty fossil fuels," but added: "Expanding offshore drilling for oil and gas would further contribute to the release of harmful greenhouse gas emissions and compromise our clean energy future."

Here's a look at the proposed budgets of some key departments and agencies and what their plans could mean for Americans and the environment:

DOE: Support for clean energy, but also for nukes, coal

The proposed $28.4 billion  Department of Energy budget targets several projects designed to help "green the economy," including $2.4 billion slated for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and development. Solar power gets the largest share of this R&D money ($300 million), followed by wind power ($123 million) and geothermal ($55 million).

Those numbers please renewable energy advocates such as Rhone Resch, head of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who predicted that the 22 percent increase in solar funding "will expand the industry's ability to advance technologies that will create jobs and economic opportunities."

The amount, however, is still well short of the $1.4 billion that the Carter administration spent in 1981 on a program to make the United States the world leader in solar power.

Many environmentalists are concerned by the administration's plans to boost funding for nuclear power. Energy Secretary Steven Chu explained that the nearly $1 billion slated for nuclear R&D is needed to "restart the nuclear power industry in the United States" -- a goal not shared by many clean energy advocates.

Although DOE's budget eliminates $2.7 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, it also supports coal-burning power plants by calling for $500 million in research on what some call "clean coal technologies."

Interior: Solar projects, offshore wind -- where's species protection?

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's $12 billion budget put jobs, energy security, and climate change in the foreground, with some twists to emphasize the department's breaks with Bush administration practices.

Salazar gave clean energy programs the biggest push at the budget rollout yesterday. Interior's budget request includes $73 million for renewable energy programs, including the assessment of potential sites for 5,000 miles of new transmission lines.

The department also hopes to expedite the review of 220 applications for utility-scale solar power projects in the West. By the end of 2011, Salazar hopes to have issued permits for renewable power plants capable of generating 9,000 megawatts of electricity -- the equivalent to 25 major coal-fired power plants, the secretary said.

Interior is asking for $73.3 million for its renewable energy development programs,  which is $14.2 million above 2010 levels. A considerable percentage of that funding -- $34.9 million -- would go to the Minerals Management Service, which oversees development of offshore wind power on the Outer Continental Shelf. The remainder is split between four other agencies within Interior, including $7 million tagged to assessing the impacts of renewable energy development on wildlife.

There is also $71 million in the department's budget for research on climate change. The funds would be used to determine which areas of the country and which species of plants and animals are most at risk from changing weather patterns.

One area of disappointment for many environmentalists: there were few specifics on Interior's plans for wildlife protection under the Endangered Species Act, even though eight years of neglect under the Bush administration has left many species with little or no protected habitat.

"It's good to hear they've recognized that assessing the impacts of renewable energy on wildlife is important," said Noah Greenwald with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. "(But) it sounds like in the budget there is not much mention of listing of species, or the listing program at all, even though there are 259 species that are candidates for protection right now."

EPA: Funds for protecting health, air, water

The 2011 budget request for the Environmental Protection Agency is down 5 percent from last year's record $10.5 billion, but Administrator Lisa Jackson reminded critics yesterday that the Obama administration increased funding for the agency by nearly 30 percent in its first year. (That doesn't include an extra $7 billion allocated to programs under the EPA's purview in last year's economic recovery act.)

Scott Brown with the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) says that although the 2011 budget isn't perfect, "it's such a huge improvement that I don't feel compelled to do an alternative budget for the first time in five years."

The budget includes funding to address a variety of health concerns that have been neglected in previous administrations. These include studies of endocrine disruptors and the effects of hydraulic fracturing -- a technique used to release underground pockets of natural gas -- and to clean up polluted brownfields, particularly in underserved and economic disadvantaged areas.

"There is no moving away from a greener, more sustainable economy," Jackson said. "The president has made that clear, and the work EPA does is the backbone of that."