Obama's Environmental Record
While many of his supporters have criticized President Obama for not acting far or fast enough on their respective causes, Daniel J. Weiss argues that the President's environmental achievements in his first year were significant.
Weiss names 10 areas in which the Obama administration has shown itself to be dramatically different from its predecessor.
"President Obama announced an agreement with California, the auto companies, and the United Auto Workers to establish the first-ever greenhouse gas limits for motor vehicles; Under President Obama, [the] EPA followed the science and the law by making the [GHG] endangerment finding; The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, which became law on February 17, 2009, includes $70 billion for clean-energy investments; Power plants [will] have to meet plant specific mercury reductions; Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are developing comprehensive compromise energy and global warming legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 17 percent; In 2008 CAP recommended that President Obama support and Congress pass a nationwide renewable electricity standard of 25 percent by 2025."
Weiss concludes by suggesting a number of ways in which the President can build on these successes in the coming year by increasing investments into renewable energy and infrastructure.
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
- Roadmap to a Green Economy - Sep 19, 2008
- Why the Politics of Climate Change Matter - Feb 13, 2012
- Driving Species to Extinction - Jan 22, 2012
- Freedom Bulbs and the Political Debate on Climate Change - Jan 21, 2012
- Your Prius Won't Save You - Jan 14, 2012
Planetizen picks
Contribute
- Top Cities For Singles Revealed
- Are the Arts Losing Out in D.C. Redevelopment?
- Detroit For Sale?
- Chinese Cities in Desperate Need of Competent Planning
- The Rise of Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing
- What the Feds are Doing to Connect Housing Policy to Health Policy
- Why the Politics of Climate Change Matter
- Waste Disposal Becomes Sexy
- Murky Future for Two of D.C.'s Architectural Gems
- The Story Behind One of the Most Controversial Buildings in the Country
My Storm, Managing the Recovery of New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina is Required Reading for Planners
U Penn Press
Feb 13, 2012
Planetizen Announces New Managing Editor: Jonathan Nettler, AICP
Planetizen
Feb 13, 2012
Volunteerism Plays Critical Role in Reaching World’s Millennium Development Goals
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Feb 10, 2012
www.flickr.com
|
But he gave money to sprawl builders
The monetary handouts provided to large builders like Ryan homes counters Obama's environmental initiatives. Under no circumstances should their model of building be supported by government policy- certainly not with citizen tax dollars.
Rural municipalities continue to be built out with housing subdivisions like those built by Ryan homes. This needs to be recognized as a major environmental problem that fuels all of the other environmental problems.