10 Things Obama Can and Must Do for Our Environment
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When Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 he declared that future generations would remember it as “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Sadly, more than three years later the oceans are still rising and our planet has done more howling-in the form of extreme weather-than healing. In fact the current political climate is actually headed in the wrong direction: The most heated talk in Washington, and on the campaign trail right now, is not about reducing carbon dioxide or expanding renewable energy but whether or not to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
No sooner had Mitt Romney wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination than environmental groups began alerting the public to the threat they believe he represents. In April four environmental groups—the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Clean Water Action and Environment America—collectively endorsed President Obama. It was the first time that those groups had come together to make a candidate endorsement.
They were moved to do so, and quite early in the process, because Romney is heavily backed by the enemies of environmental regulation. Energy companies and the rich tycoons who own them have begun pouring money into Republican causes for the 2012 cycle and are expected to give considerably more before November. And Romney is returning the favor with policy promises.
In 2011 the oil and gas industry gave Romney $899,630 according to the Center for Responsive Politics, far more than they gave to President Obama. They were Romney’s eleventh-most-supportive industry, whereas they did not rank among President Obama’s top twenty. More money will surely fill his coffers this year since Rick Perry is no longer in the race.
The threat of a Romney presidency looms large and time may be running out for our planet and those of us who populate her. Here are 10 things Obama could actually do right now without interference from the obstructionist congress to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet:
1) Stop the Keystone Pipeline Once and For All
2) Prevent Oil Spills by Acting on Spill Commission Recommendations
3) Crackdown on Carbon
4) Strike a Deal with China
5) Make Coal Clean Up its Mess
6) Hang Tough on Fuel Standards
7) Make Conservation Patriotic
8.) Give Fish a Chance
9) Pardon Tim DeChristopher*
10) Use the Bully Pulpit
Insiders insist the president is running a “stealth campaign” on climate change, quietly going after coal and oil by tightening air-pollution and fuel efficiency standards. But Obama alone has the power to elevate global warming to the forefront of the international agenda, where it certainly belongs. He must use his remarkable rhetorical skill to explain to the world that the fossil-fuel era is coming to an end, and inspire us all to take action, no matter the cost.
*Back in 2008, when the Bush administration was scrambling to open up millions of acres of federal land to oil and gas drilling, DeChristopher staged a daring act of civil disobedience, posing as a bidder to disrupt a federal auction that would have damaged wilderness areas like the Arches and Canyonland national parks in Utah. For this the 29 year old activist was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Many thanks to Rolling Stone and The Nation for their contributions to this story.
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I agree with junction and I don’t think BHO will do all of those things after he’s elected but we can hope.
This is an election year and I doubt the president will be doing much more beyond campaigning and perhaps some housekeeping. Nonetheless I suspect he has a plan to deal with all of this once re-elected, and he will be re-elected. Good read.