Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 8 • Number 20 • 14th November 2008
A Change for Climate Change: Obama’s Environmental Plan
Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say
Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States in what many observers are calling one of the most important elections in the country’s history. Americans strongly backed Obama and his promises for ‘change’ in the 4 November election. And when it comes to environmental issues, such as climate change and energy, there is widespread expectation that change is indeed coming.
The proposed Obama-Biden plan for the environment aims to discard many of the Bush administration’s policies and in its place, integrate major climate change and energy bills that will bring the US back into the international climate change arena. This shift can be seen most immediately in the president-elect’s decision to send his own representatives to the 1-12 December UN Climate Change Conference (COP-14) in Poznań, Poland.
In addition to newfound US engagement in climate change dialogue, some say Obama’s proposed environmental plans would not only thrust the US back into global initiatives, but possibly overtake the standards and commitments of many European countries.
This is true, for instance, with the president-elect’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 using an economy-wide ‘cap-and-trade programme’, which would put a price on carbon emissions that reflects the costs of global warming. The administration also says it will introduce a mandate to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. If these ambitious objectives are achieved, the US would go from one of the world’s worst polluters to a leader on climate change, surpassing Europe’s commitment to reduce emissions by 60 percent by the same year.
“We cannot afford more of the same timid politics when the future of our planet is at stake,” president-elect Obama said during a rally in New Hampshire. “Global warming is not a someday problem, it is now. We are already breaking records with the intensity of our storms, the number of forest fires, the periods of drought. By 2050 famine could force more than 250 million from their homes.”
Comments such as these have been well-received by environmentalists, and it is clear that expectations for change are high. “Obama’s victory will give crucial climate negotiations a much greater chance of success – the United States must face up to its international responsibilities and show positive global leadership in low-carbon economic development,” says Andy Atkins, Executive Director of the London-based Friends of the Earth.
In addition to a strong stance on greenhouse gas emissions, many environmentalists are praising the president-elect’s other proposed environmental policies as comprehensive and multifaceted – particularly when compared to those of the current administration.
“We are confident President-elect Obama will view these challenging times as an opportunity to reverse the ill-chosen policies of the past and chart a new course that will lead America and the world to a healthier, safer, more sustainable and prosperous future,” said Carter Roberts, CEO of WWF-US, in a press release circulated shortly after the 4 November election.
Obama’s energy plan includes provisions such as investing US$150 billion over the next ten years to help catalyse private efforts to build clean energy, establishing a national low-carbon fuel standard, and weather-proofing one million homes annually. The policy also has incorporated other ambitious objectives including putting one million hybrid cars on the road in the US by 2015 and ensuring that by 2012, 10 percent of domestic electricity comes from renewable resources.
Yet, while environmentalists are optimistic about the future under Obama, trade observers are exercising more caution. Among some in the trade community, there is concern that future policies will be more protectionist than those seen under the Republicans.
However, in a memo on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for instance, senior Obama advisor Austin Goolsbee wrote that “Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more ‘core’ principles of the agreement.” Another reason, it seems, for environmentalists to be smiling.
But sceptics are urging prudence to all those who have set high expectations for the president-elect on the environment and other policies. The global financial crisis could severely deter many well-intentioned plans. Furthermore, because Obama’s cabinet remains to be filled, all speculation on his priorities once in office remain just that – speculation.
Yet, many supporters appear to be content with the undeniable hope inspired by Obama’s presidential campaign. As the president-elect said during a pre-election rally, “this is not the future I want for my daughters. It’s not the future any of us want for our children. And if we act now and we act boldly, it doesn’t have to be.”
Just how boldly he will act remains to be seen.
ICTSD reporting; “Obama victory signals rebirth of US environmental policy,” THE GUARDIAN, 5 November 2008; “WWF congratulates President-elect Obama,” WWF, 5 November 2008.
Add a comment
Enter your details and a comment below, then click Submit Comment. We’ll review and publish the best comments.