Obama´s decisive actions
Siggy Buckley
January 27, 2009
It´s a joy watching the news again, e.g. Obama signing executive orders on environmental issues, making them a priority, reversing George Bush´s policies from day one in office.
By increasing car mileage (already passed by Congress but boycotted effectively by Bush), demanding bipartisan Californian directives to be reviewed, Obama is acting on his campaign promises combining the fight against climate change with his economic overhaul and job creation visions.
The USA is still a long way from regulations long written into law in the EU, and Germany in particular. For him to want the USA to be leading again...is even a longer way, but a first and important step in the right direction.
I remember the discussion in the late 80s in Germany when the "killer argument" of conservatives was the environmental progress could not be afforded by the economy. Somehow, however, they managed to create jobs and create a viable alternative route but cutting subsidies to oil, nuclear, coal etc. Now Germany is leading in solar energy, together with tiny Denmark in wind energy.
The German chancellor Merkel stalled at the last summit in Posen/Poland due to the economic global meltdown- to go even further. But they are not reneging on existing laws. That includes gas taxes for the consumer. The more a gas guzzler uses up the more the owner pays - and rightly so. American drivers must not forget, shortsightedly, that gas prices may be down during this economic slump, but are bound to increase.
During the Bush Presidency, the US outsourced CO2 emissions growth of more than 700 million metric tons- compared to reported growth of some 200 million metric tons which is a 300% higher than official estimates. So much for conservatives´ claim of Bush's leadership in slowing emissions.
Unfortunately, on the same days a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that turning off the carbon dioxide emissions won't stop global warming. The idea that changes will be irreversible has consequences for how we should deal with climate change. Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University says that changes are starting to happen in at least a minor way already. So the question becomes, where do we stop it, when does all of this become dangerous?
Scientists have been trying to advise politicians about finding an acceptable level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere- something that fell on deaf ears under President Bush. Obama´s office vouched to give science back its proper role, indeed to be guided by science.
Acceptable limits for carbon dioxide are a judgment call. It's really a political decision because there's more at issue than just the science. It's the issue of what the science says, plus what's feasible politically, plus what's reasonable economically to do. If climate changes are irreversible, the more reason it is not to give up but to act now.
On a dull, cool day, among all the gloom of bad economic news, it lifted my spirits and reminded me that there is hope. I will continue to plant my little lettuce, herb and strawberry plants on my porch, something I haven't done in years after a decade long stint with organic farming in a previous life.
"If I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I would plant a tree today." (Luther)
By increasing car mileage (already passed by Congress but boycotted effectively by Bush), demanding bipartisan Californian directives to be reviewed, Obama is acting on his campaign promises combining the fight against climate change with his economic overhaul and job creation visions.
The USA is still a long way from regulations long written into law in the EU, and Germany in particular. For him to want the USA to be leading again...is even a longer way, but a first and important step in the right direction.
I remember the discussion in the late 80s in Germany when the "killer argument" of conservatives was the environmental progress could not be afforded by the economy. Somehow, however, they managed to create jobs and create a viable alternative route but cutting subsidies to oil, nuclear, coal etc. Now Germany is leading in solar energy, together with tiny Denmark in wind energy.
The German chancellor Merkel stalled at the last summit in Posen/Poland due to the economic global meltdown- to go even further. But they are not reneging on existing laws. That includes gas taxes for the consumer. The more a gas guzzler uses up the more the owner pays - and rightly so. American drivers must not forget, shortsightedly, that gas prices may be down during this economic slump, but are bound to increase.
During the Bush Presidency, the US outsourced CO2 emissions growth of more than 700 million metric tons- compared to reported growth of some 200 million metric tons which is a 300% higher than official estimates. So much for conservatives´ claim of Bush's leadership in slowing emissions.
Unfortunately, on the same days a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that turning off the carbon dioxide emissions won't stop global warming. The idea that changes will be irreversible has consequences for how we should deal with climate change. Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University says that changes are starting to happen in at least a minor way already. So the question becomes, where do we stop it, when does all of this become dangerous?
Scientists have been trying to advise politicians about finding an acceptable level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere- something that fell on deaf ears under President Bush. Obama´s office vouched to give science back its proper role, indeed to be guided by science.
Acceptable limits for carbon dioxide are a judgment call. It's really a political decision because there's more at issue than just the science. It's the issue of what the science says, plus what's feasible politically, plus what's reasonable economically to do. If climate changes are irreversible, the more reason it is not to give up but to act now.
On a dull, cool day, among all the gloom of bad economic news, it lifted my spirits and reminded me that there is hope. I will continue to plant my little lettuce, herb and strawberry plants on my porch, something I haven't done in years after a decade long stint with organic farming in a previous life.
"If I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I would plant a tree today." (Luther)
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