What do you want to see from Obama regarding the environment during his first 100 days on the job? In other words, how do you believe he should set the tone for the next 4 years?
It's hard to say what can be accomplished in the first 100 days realistically, but I think a key step would be to get an economic stimulus bill passed which included a green stimulus component.
I read through the green stimulus component, and it's impressive, but fails to draw in the middle class with direct incentives, and seems to lack something of the bold flourish I guess I'm looking for here. Don't get me wrong, I have faith that Obama will be able to sell his program, and the package he's pulled together is a fantastic start, absolutely! Maybe the problem is that Clinton, even with Gore aboard, didn't accomplish much of what I'd hoped for environmentally, and I've obviously been pacing the walls these last 8 years, so may be a bit impatient. In fact, I know I am!
That said, in the first 100 days I want to see some sort of gesture that speaks to environmentalists, the general public and the world, that demonstrates his intent beyond this stimulus package. I'll let you know if and when he accomplishes this task soon enough. Since Obama is hitting the ground running I may not have to wait 100 days.
The news of Obama's accomplishments and missteps will be presented en masse everywhere, but The Huffington Post has posted this site:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/100-days
Not exclusively enivironmentally oriented, but I know that kind of material will be included in the mix, and the site is worth a look periodically anyhow. For instance, right now there's a vote going on for the favorite green roof provided by readers. Each includes a brief description, and it was interesting to see the mix and interesting that Huffington chose to include this feature on the site.
Thanks for passing along the HuffPo link, Amy! I hadn't seen that one yet.
Fast Company just came out with an article called "Obama Promises Science-Centric, Eco-Friendly Presidency."
It's not really anything new, but it nicely contrasts Obama's inauguration speech with the slightly less scientific George Bush.
it nicely contrasts Obama's inauguration speech with the slightly less scientific George Bush.
lol! i thought americans didnt do sarcasm ;-)
looking good so far. its all so interwoven, we wont get real worldwide action on climate change until we have more world equity and cooperation. he's the chap for all that.
and nice to see hilary getting ready for action as 'obama's bulldog'.
well its looking good so far!
www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/01/yvo1.html
and somewhat related to environment, the removal of the 'global gag rule' was very welcome to those of us concerned with both womens rights and population control.
After 8 years of dragging his knuckles on the pavement while the situation worsened, Obama has shown leadership that just weeks ago was almost unimaginable for Washington. "The days of Washington dragging its heels are over. My administration will not deny facts we will be guided by them," said Obama. I also loved Yvo de Boer's synergy comments, which may draw boos from the skeptical crowd but seems to make oh so much sense.
Only a week deep and yet oh so much accomplished.
Yeah it's been great so far. Terrific appointments, great speeches, (temporary) blocking of a new coal power plant, etc.
Also fascinating, Obama did his first post-inauguration interview on an Arab station, delivering the message "America is not your enemy". Great to see this attempt to communicate with the Arab world with words instead of missiles.
“A Roadmap for U.S.-China Cooperation on Energy and Climate Change?” This is the title of 1 of 2 newly-released reports that propose ways for President Obama and Chinese leaders to conduct discussions on curbing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to rising temperatures. The report was prepared by a committee led by now Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
The other report, by Brooks fellows David B. Sandalow and Kenneth G. Lieberthal, offers a "menu" on how to build political support in both countries.
Is this good news or what? Secretary of State Clinton could visit China in the next 30 days, and it's looking like this topic will be a primary point of discussion among the two nations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/world/asia/05china.html?_r=3
That's awesome news, especially considering China's recent announcement that they're planning on building a ton of new coal power plants in the next few years. Hopefully Chu and company can convince them not to.
Climate bill seen possible "in weeks"
The Senate's top environmental lawmaker offered a preview on Wednesday of major component of climate change legislation she said could be introduced "in weeks, not months."
"We are not sitting back and waiting for some magic moment," Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters. "We're ready to go."
well, that is very encouraging.
That certainly seems optimistic. Joseph Romm is actually taking bets that the US won't pass a climate bill this year (he's betting it won't).
“Copenhagen is December,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told reporters. “That’s why I said we’ll have a bill out of this committee by then.”
So basically she seems to be going from 'by December' to 'within the next month or two'. That's a pretty radical change.
Romm is also having another Climate Progress Contest: On what day will Obama sign a climate bill? He predicts Earth Day next year – April 22, 2010.
"It could be weeks, not months, but it will be before the end of this year," she said.
ok, that means before december doesnt it? i sincerley hope its done before copenhagen.
oh well, i'll try another one.
this looks good;
President Obama gave a great speech the other night. Below are articles from the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal that help those of us more deeply immersed in environmental issues to help keep our finger on the pulse of what American media is expressing about the Presidents policies.
It was a smooth pitch, deemphasizing the high financial cost of action, and stressing how stepping up to meet our energy needs in a more environmentally appropriate fashion will help us to compete in the worldwide market and put ourselves back on top in several fields. Approval ratings continue to be high, the Republican response was, well, a weak effort, and Obama and Democrats seem poised to set America on the road to economic and environmental recovery.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/opinion/26thu1.html?_r=1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123561433557778201.html
I only caught part of the speech, but what I saw was really good.
I also saw a lot of criticism of Jindal's Republican rebuttal. Apparently he pulled a McCain in criticizing one of the supposed "pork projects" in the stimulus. I recall McCain making a big deal about an "overhead projector" for a planetarium in Illinois, which is actually a very sophisticated piece of equipment and critical to the operation of a planetarium.
In this case, Jindal tried to make fun of investing money in volcano monitoring. This from the governor of a state ravaged by a hurricane - apparently he still doesn't think monitoring for natural disasters is a good idea. He got raked over the coals for that comment.
Anyway, Obama continues to emphasize green issues and funding, which is great. And his approval rating apparently got a big boost after this speech too, so I guess people liked what they heard.
Sometimes the media gets it right, as in this USA Today piece by Traci Watson.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2009-03-05-greenagenda_N.htm
The sidebar under "The President's Agenda" is nicely presented, I believe.
Yeah, good article and good breakdown of what's been done and what the next steps are.
Hang on to your hats, here we go! If you don't want to witness the barage of media assessments on President Obama's first 100 days in office, back away from the TV, radio and computer. I believe Wednesday is "the day," just thought I'd resurrect this thread now so all here can watch for posts on their favorite sites and we can compare notes. A few sites of interest I've located already:
I'll withhold my opinion for now, but it would be nice to get a good dialogue going on this topic later this week, when the words begin flying.
Dana generously provided this link on the Yahoo Q&A site:
http://climateprogress.org/2009/04/26/the-green-fdr-obama-first-100-days/
The link provides a nickname that could stick, labeling Obama as a candidate for the "green FDR" label.
A few other assessments:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/obamas-first-100-days-the_b_191831.html
Huffington doesn't put Obama's environmental achievements in either the plus or the minus side -- she sidesteps them completely -- but other notables such as Gary Hart and Madeline Albright offer their assessments on the Huffington site as well. Albright's comments were nicely presented. She noted, "he has taken steps to restore America's reputation as a leader on the environment and international law." Joe Romm, Dave Burdick and Jeff Biggers weigh in under the "Environment & Climate Change" category. Good reads all.
Obama's just getting rolling, but his initial efforts have impressed me, and I'm hoping that America will keep him on as a 2 term President so he can really have some elbow room.
Yeah so far I think he's done a great job. And with the green stimulus, I like the "green FDR" label. Hopefully he can keep it up. He's still talking about green energy and climate change in his speeches, so things are looking good.
HuffPo also has kind of an interesting article called Obama's first 100 green days: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-burdick/obamas-first-100-green-da_b_192597.html
Barack Obama: The first ______ president.
Can we put the word "green" in that blank? Hard to say, so early. But we may be off to a pretty good start. When Obama was elected president, some environmentalists believed it signaled the dawning of a new, green era. Others pointed to his history with the coal lobby as a red flag. In fact, Obama's coal talk still worries some enviros.
