November, 05 2008, 11:07am EDT
'America is Back!'
'In Tough Economic Times, Voters Backed the Candidates Who Favor Big Action on Climate and Energy'
WASHINGTON/INTERNATIONAL
Statement of John Passacantando, Executive
Director, Greenpeace USA on the election of Barack Obama as President
of the United States:
"We
congratulate Barack Obama on his historic election as President of the
United States. He has demonstrated the once-in-a-generation ability to
unite America behind a common vision. It is a vision that the United
States urgently needs now to solve the triple challenge of the energy,
economic and global warming crises.
"In
tough economic times, voters backed the candidates for president and
congress who favor big action on climate and energy. Global warming is
one of the biggest challenges our country faces, and the American
people supported candidates who ran on clear platforms of taking bold,
science-based action needed to solve that crisis.
"Americans
weren't fooled by the millions of dollars the oil and coal companies
spent during the election to derail a solution, or by last-minute
scaremongering about the financial costs of cleaning up our economy.
President-Elect Obama said that the change we need includes putting
people back to work by solving global warming and investing in a clean
energy future and Americans responded to that vision in historic
numbers.
"For
eight years, the international community tried to solve global warming
while this country's leadership sat on the sidelines. We look forward
to showing a waiting world that America is back and ready to lead.
Obama Supports Strong Domestic Action on Global Warming
Obama has committed to 80 percent reductions in global warming pollution by 2050. (Obama-Biden New Energy for America Plan, https://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy)
The
Obama campaign has committed to using executive action to regulate
global warming pollution, if necessary. (Bloomberg News, October 16, https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2RHIj_6hvV0&refer=home)
Obama Supports International Action on Global Warming
"Obama
and Biden will re-engage with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCC)-the main international forum dedicated to addressing the
climate problem." (Obama-Biden New Energy for American plan,https://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy_more#emissions)
Obama has committed to attend or send a personal representative to the next UN climate talks in Poland this December. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_TD4OL-15U)
Obama Supports Major Investments in Clean Energy
Obama
has committed to helping create five million new green jobs by
investing $150 billion in clean energy over the next ten years,
requiring that we get 10 percent of our electricity from clean sources
by 2012, and putting at least a million ultra-efficient plug-in hybrid
vehicles on the road. (Obama-Biden New Energy for America Plan, https://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy)
Solving the Global Warming Crisis is Essential to Getting the Economy Back on Its Feet
Extreme
weather, sea level rise, flooding, and other impacts associated with
global warming will cause a $271 billion annual drag on the economy by
2025 and a whopping $3.8 trillion by 2100. We can't afford not to fight
global warming. (https://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/cost/contents.asp)
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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