Obama Renews Promise to Break with Bush-Era Environmental Policies
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama today renewed his promise to make a decisive break with George Bush on the environment, using a summit convened by Arnold Schwarzenegger to promise a "new chapter in America's leadership on climate change".
The video appearance by Obama confirmed
Schwarzenegger's role as a global leader on climate change, a position
shored up only hours before when the California governor set a bold new
target for his state to get a third of its electricity from renewable
sources by 2020.
In his address, the president-elect accused Bush of failing to show leadership on the issue of climate change. "That will change when I take office," he said.
He went on to lay out an ambitious agenda, beginning with targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. He also reiterated a campaign pledge to invest $15bn each year in the development of clean technology - including "clean" coal and nuclear power.
"This investment will not only help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, making the United States more secure. And it will not only help us bring about a clean energy future, saving our planet. It will also help us transform our industries and steer our country out of this economic crisis by generating five million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced."
On Monday, Schwarzenegger signed an executive order committing California to produce one-third of its electricity from renewable sources.
"I am proposing we set the most aggressive target in the nation for renewable energy," he told reporters. The state legislature still must pass the goal into law.
Even before Monday's order, California was already committed to producing 20% of its power from wind and solar power by 2010. "Today is all about changing our goals and raising the bar," Schwarzenegger said.
The summit in Los Angeles comes at a crucial time, ahead of the United Nations climate change talks in Poland next month and amid expectation of a dramatic shift in US environmental policy once Obama is in the White House.
As Obama said in the video address, he will not attend the meeting in Poland but had asked members of Congress to report back to him.
"Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change," he said.
"When I am president, any governor who's willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that's willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that's willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America."
Schwarzenegger's meeting brought together European, Indian and Chinese officials, oil company executives and environmentalists along with a handful of Schwarzenegger's fellow governors.
Schwarzenegger invited his 49 fellow governors to the summit, but only four - from Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Wisconsin - were expected to make an appearance. Representatives from Michigan, Colorado, Utah and Washington state were also on hand.
Although California is unable to sign international treaties on climate change, Schwarzenegger has built a reputation because of his efforts to cut emissions in California and abroad.
He set up a cap-and-trade emissions market between western US states and Canadian provinces.
The governor is expected to follow up on those efforts at the summit with a declaration in which participating leaders will pledge to work together to reduce emissions.
"This declaration will help advance efforts being undertaken by our national governments for the next global agreement on climate change," Schwarzenegger's office said in a statement.
Schwarzenegger is also expected to sign agreements with Indonesia and Brazil making it easier for Californian companies to invest in reforestation projects in those countries.
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12 Comments so far
Show AllObama must break with Bush further: Obama must deal with Bush’s raging racism.
Obama is a disgrace to black people.
Is Obama going to financially reward black Katrina victims for having been racially discriminated against by Bush?
Where is the money?
I don’t think Obama would have any problem, hypothetically, with slavery happening all over again.
Maybe one remembers that Kanye West said, “Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
We have uncovered something far more horrifying.
It is practically like Obama “doesn’t care about black people.” (And Obama is black.)
There are all sorts of personalities.
There actually are screwed up black people who secretly don’t like their own kind.
There may even be black lunatics or freaks who would fancy themselves prancing around wearing a KKK outfit or uniform with the swastika on it.
Maybe Obama even fantasizes about hanging black people by nooses.
I like black people.
Black people are cool!
Black people are great.
But now, white people don’t have to worry about Obama interfering with racial discrimination inflicted by white people against racial minorities while Obama is president of the United States.
It is practically just as bad as if the white supremacist at heart, George W. Bush, is still running the country.
For example, Bush murdered a black woman—Margie Schoedinger.
“One of those very least were George Bush’s personal complicity in the death (murder to be precise) of my friend Margie Schoedinger in September of 2003. Determining the exact whereabouts and contacts of [then] president-elect George Bush on September 21 thru 22, 2003, should be entirely lacking in difficulty” (Leola McConnell (Nevada Progressive Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010). Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://leolaforussenate.blogspot.com/2008/02/leola-mcconnell-for-us-senate.html).
Obama should have the guts to assemble workers from the FBI and/or one or more state attorney general offices and say something similar to the following:
“I, Obama, am the most powerful person in America now. Bush is no longer the president and thus no longer the most powerful person in America. I, Obama, am in control now. I, Obama, demand that the ultimate law-enforcement workers in this country investigate Bush and then proceed to have him locked away for life or executed for murdering the black woman—Margie Schoedinger. I, Obama, am black, and I find Bush’s murder of Margie Schoedinger to be personally offensive. I, Obama, feel it is once again like the time of slavery when white people killed black people with no sheriff, prosecutor, or court to stop it from happening or prosecute it. I, Obama, am not going to go around in the modern-day democracy feeling like a black slave of white people—especially while I am the president of the United States. I, Obama, want Bush brought down for murdering a black woman. I, Obama, want Bush brought down for racially discriminating against black people pursuant to Hurricane Katrina. I, Obama, am going to supply financial rewards to the black people who were harmed by Bush’s racial discrimination and who are still alive. I, Obama, am taken aback by Bush having been so evil in wrongfully causing the deaths of so many black people pursuant to his racist response relative to Hurricane Katrina. I, Obama, am going to take advantage of my time as a racial-minority president and not allow “Bush’s KKK-Neo-Nazi mentality” to rule over and oppress black people in America.”
Obama is not doing anything about Bush’s murder of Margie Schoedinger.
Obama has not given a penny to any black victims of Bush’s racial discrimination.
Obama needs to say: “I can change and act like a black person instead of disgracing myself all over the place!”
Obama needs to say: “Change—Yes I can!”
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
The American people should know that George W. Bush is not only a war criminal: he is also a hate-crime criminal.
George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes.
“What did you think of that NAACP anti-Bush race-baiting ad in 2000? You know, the one that practically said Bush was responsible for the dragging-to-death-behind-a-truck murder of a black man just because he didn’t sign a hate crimes bill several years after the man’s death” (Posted by Aaron. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from metafilter.com).
ON THE TOPIC OF HATE CRIME(S):
“Sean Penn accuses Bush of ‘criminal negligence’” (Retrieved December 11, 2008, from deadlykatrina.com). Thus, Sean Penn believes that George W. Bush was at fault, criminally, relative to his response to Hurricane Katrina.
“Had the residents of New Orleans been white Republicans in a state that mattered politically, instead of poor blacks in city that didn’t, Bush’s response surely would have been different. Compare what happened when hurricanes Charley and Frances hit Florida in 2004. Though the damage from those storms was negligible in relation to Katrina’s, the reaction from the White House was instinctive, rapid, and generous to the point of profligacy. Bush visited hurricane victims four times in six weeks and delivered relief checks personally. Michael Brown of FEMA, now widely regarded as an incompetent political hack, was so responsive that local officials praised the agency’s performance.”
Jacob Weisberg. (2005, September 7). An Imperfect Storm . . . How race shaped Bush’s response to Katrina. Slate. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from slate.com
Assuming that George W. Bush had in fact been criminally negligent relative to his response to Hurricane Katrina, would Bush be responsible for hate crime?
“One of those very least were George Bush’s personal complicity in the death (murder to be precise) of my friend Margie Schoedinger[,] [an African-American woman,] in September of 2003. Determining the exact whereabouts and contacts of [then] president-elect George Bush on September 21 thru 22, 2003, should be entirely lacking in difficulty” (Leola McConnell (Nevada Progressive Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010). Retrieved November 29, 2008, from leolaforussenate.blogspot.com).
Does George W. Bush’s murder of Margie Schoedinger constitute a hate crime?
“A woman in Texas who filed a lawsuit against the president for rape and torture[,] [Margie Schoedinger,] was found shot to death. It was ruled a suicide. No one is investigating. Bush reportedly dated the woman in high school and speculation is that he was using the woman as his sex slave because he is above the law” (John Kaminski (author of “America’s Autopsy Report,” a collection of his Internet essays published on hundreds of websites around the world). (No date listed). Why We Need Martial Law . . . Criminal government is destroying America; military must step in to restore Constitution. serendipity.li. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from serendipity.li).
Do George W. Bush’s rape and torture of Margie Schoedinger constitute hate crimes?
“I believe that George W. Bush hates black people. Through secret government machinations, he caused Hurricane Katrina to form and aimed it at New Orleans on purpose, just so he could wipe out lots of poor blacks. I also believe that before the hurricane hit, he snuck into New Orleans and stole the keys to every school bus in the city to make evacuation of poor people impossible” (Janet M. Stroble. (2006, April 12). Now I Believe. military.com. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from military.com).
If George W. Bush intentionally did what Janet M. Stroble indicated, would Bush have committed hate crimes against countless black people?
“I believe that George W. Bush hates Moslems. All that garbage about freedom, democracy, and the right to vote is a pollution of their culture. I believe that George W. Bush hates immigrants. There were a lot of immigrants working in the World Trade Center and George W. Bush didn’t warn them ahead of time” (Janet M. Stroble. (2006, April 12). Now I Believe. military.com. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from military.com).
In that George W. Bush hates immigrants and deliberately failed to warn them ahead of time as indicated by Janet M. Stroble: would Bush accordingly be responsible for hate crimes relative to racial minorities who were harmed?
“Did Kanye West[’]s [comment], [‘]George Bush Hates Black People[’][,] get his mother killed?” (Retrieved October 18, 2008, from abovetopsecret.com).
There is a discussion at abovetopsecret.com relating to whether President George W. Bush murdered Kanye West’s mother—Ms. Donda West.
Did President George W. Bush, who hates black people, murder Kanye West’s mother in the heat of raging racism? Somebody indicated that although the president of the United States is monitored by the Secret Service, he certainly can meet with one or more persons where his conversations are not intercepted and secretly “order a hit” on someone or order the murder of someone.
If George W. Bush did murder Kanye West’s mother, would it constitute a hate crime?
GEORGE W. BUSH MURDERED A JEW!
“George W. Bush murdered the Jewish former Senator—Paul Wellstone” (Retrieved December 10, 2008, from andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com). This Internet site has a lot of information indicating that George W. Bush murdered Wellstone.
“Bush’s visit to Israel is under the guise of Middle East peace. You gotta be kidding me! Bush is THE MASTER ARCHITECT of Middle East war, not peace. . . . Bush didn’t go to Israel because he likes Israelis or like Jews, nope, he went there because he hates them. He went there to spread his message of doom, war, pain and death” (Storm Bear. (2008, January 10). PROOF: George W Bush Is An Anti-Semite! bitsofnews.com. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from bitsofnews.com).
Assuming that George W. Bush did in fact murder the Jewish former Senator—Paul Wellstone, would Bush have committed a hate crime? Bush would have “purposefully” (criminal-law terminology) murdered Wellstone. Wellstone’s Jewish wife and Jewish daughter also died in the plane crash. Bush would have “knowingly” (criminal-law terminology) murdered Wellstone’s wife and daughter. However, would Bush’s murders of Wellstone’s Jewish wife and Jewish daughter also have constituted hate crimes?
Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
Monday, November 10, 2008
Andrew Yu-Jen Wang for months had strongly rooted for Barack Obama over John McCain. However, in the end, Andrew Yu-Jen Wang voted for Ralph Nader only as a symbolic gesture because Andrew Yu-Jen Wang expects to be immensely disappointed by Barack Obama who Andrew Yu-Jen Wang assumes will not rigorously make arrangements or seek to have George W. Bush prosecuted—the most horrifying omission of action imaginable.
However, Andrew Yu-Jen Wang acknowledges that it is a hell of a lot better to have Barack Obama as President of the United States than John McCain.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
Posted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang at 6:56 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/andrew-yu-jen-wang-for-months-had.html
And so Andrew Yu-Jen Wang did not vote for Barack Obama where Wang strongly suspected that Obama would not really go all out to cause George W. Bush to be incarcerated for his heinous crimes. This omission of action of Obama would be shocking to the conscience. It would be the saddest thing. It would demoralize the American people. It would break the heart of the American people. And so Wang just did not want to make a fool of himself by investing himself in Obama through casting a vote for Obama only then to be mortified and let down by Obama not embarking on a mission to incarcerate the absolutely evil career criminal—George W. Bush.
After George W. Bush leaves office, one of the most important things is for his incarceration to be sought by the American people. If Obama were not prepared to fight diligently for such a thing, then Obama would, in a way, have wasted his time as the President of the United States. Moreover, Obama must be aware of George W. Bush’s various onslaughts against black people. Please read all about it in the blog of Wang (http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/). Thus, if Obama does not have the indignation and rage to seek Bush’s incarceration, one must conclude only that Obama lacks the courage to do it. In failing to seek Bush’s incarceration, Obama—a black person—inevitably shames and humiliates and embarrasses himself.
Obama—a black person (a racial minority himself)—should be profoundly sensitive to the racial prejudice and widespread suffering Bush has inflicted against black people.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
Retrieved November 30, 2008, from http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/electing-barack-obama-president-was.html
"Mother Earth has many enemies/there's much work to be done/yeah"
-Neil Young
"The video appearance by Obama confirmed Schwarzenegger's role as a global leader on climate change"
If Arnie is such a leader on climate change, why is campaigning for the party of climate change? Progressive California wants to reverse climate change and he's married to a Kennedy. That could be why he's taken up the climate change banner.
Arnold was elected on his celeb status and his hard Republican stance on the popular anti-immigration issue. He is not a progressive, he's a Reaganite.
That said, no matter what his reasons for taking action, it's a positive step that might usher him to higher office if the election law changes.
Chris_DeGetmon
I am not supposing that they will do any like what I've suggested.
Instead, obviously, I'm indicating what they would need to do if they chose to make a break with what you rightly call the 'unsustainalbe practices of the past.'
Ecology-hating officials of the Bush era have worsened [and created so many new) environmental emergencies during their insane reign that we face now a direly out of control, multi-disaster scenario, bearing down on us from all sides and from many unsuspected dimensions and synergies.
Besides immediately implementing energy policies that veer us away from use of atmosphere-threatening fuels and processes, Obama & the Dems need to generate their own counter-tsunami in the eco-regulatory agencies.
Rapid mass firings are required of the 4 to 5-deep, upper level administrators at EPA and at least seven other major federal eco-regulatory agencies -- virtually all of which positions are now held by either corrupt scientists, or regulation-hostile, former industry executives, and/or by passionately anti-environmental legal theorists in the mould of James Watt.
It is no exaggeration to say that the balance of Bush's appointees to these health and safety-protecting agencies are functional psychopaths -- so there shoujld be no hesitation on Obama's part to kick them out decisively and with absolutely no apologies.
One of the most most appalling yet still-ignored aspects of the Bush-gutted federal regulatory apparatus is in the area of consumer product safety and toxics registry/testing --especially the now-allowed, easy introduction and/or re-introduction of known hormone mimicing chemicals, carcinogens, and potent neuro-toxins into both the food and the consumer product-manufacturing processes of the US.
If Obama and the congressional Dems begin to do their rightful job in this crucial area of human concern, then they will, in short order, also have to finally announce a public moral indictment of the risk and damage to day-today human health which the neocon philosophy of government has allowed and so insanely affirmed for so many years in the name of a relatively few people's monetary profits.
Many people are hypnotized enough that they don't know what to think about the so-called larger, global environmental issues.
But if it can be proved to them that they're being personally poisoned on a daily basis, in consumer products, by the same sick politicoes who tell them not to worry about the bigger environmental picture, maybe overview connections in their heads might then be more easily made.
"Obama & the Dems need to generate their own counter-tsunami in the eco-regulatory agencies."
And how do you suppose they are going to do that by embracing unsustainable practices of the past? I agree that a massive purge is in order, but replacing corrupt corporate cronies with new corrupt corporate cronies will not achieve your desired result.
Appalachia can't stand more of Presidebt Bush's prosperity and progress, Wise County, Virginia is becoming a toxic waste dump, third world America. END MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL ! http://www.wisecountyissues.com
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/timmullins
Same policies. Only the names have been changed to hide the guilty.
The term "clean coal" is also known as "Green Washing" in other words, this article is propagating a political and environmental fraud. The coal industry repudiated the technology and Green Peace calls it false given their numerous studies. Furthermore, Obama had no problem with a corporate welfare Bill of 700Billion asserting that the money would be used to help mortgage holders dig out of a hole created by predatory lending practices. Turns out the money is being used to prop up the fat cats, enfranchised elites running the global economic show.
Obama's 150 Billion for climate change is chump change to the magnitude of the problems and measured against his corporate welfare agenda dwarfs the importance of a far greater issue. More jobs can be created to transition away from the anti environmental forces of the past represented by the American auto industry. Moreover, most of that proposed 150 Billion for energy will be used for unsustainable sources, i.e., coal, nuclear and bio. Whatever crumbs that fall off the table to sustainable sources (Wind, Solar, Geothermal, or Tidal) will be offset by the negative impact created via the unsustainable sources. All this, of course, driven by special interests and corporate hegemony to which Obama is married. Cap and Trade does nothing but push the problems into the future, what is required is a carbon tax to punish the abusers. Even Al Gore is against Cap and Trade and pushes a carbon tax for meaningful reduction of emissions. Any one who thinks their projections for reduced carbon emissions will be met via cap and trade is sadly living in a dream world.
Environmentalism is no longer a spectator sport. Ask a real environmentalist what the politicos are doing behind closed doors including organizing the last Buffalo hunt on the old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.
This article is just another brain washing tool brought to you by/ and on behalf of, the corporate elite.
A number of environmental groups pulling together to pressure Obama for 100% clean energy - sign on and pass the word
http://ga3.org/soe/rebuild_america.html