Alongside maverick and main street, energy and environment were major buzzwords in the 2008 Presidential Election. The strongest emphasis came from our now President Elect, Barack Obama, who not only acknowledged the importance of environmental protection and aggressive environmental policies, but suggested that  getting greener as a country was a great opportunity to create new markets and jobs in the field of renewable energy and infrastructure. With inauguration day quickly approaching, we have created a brief a retrospective look at Obama’s position and action on environmental issues during his run in the State and US Senate.

A Respectable Record:

• While still active in the Senate, Obama was a co-sponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 309) This important legislation would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 80% in the year 2050, but Congress has yet to vote on the bill.

• During his time as Senator, Obama also introduced a bill requiring more pollution controls at coal plants to prevent Bush from rolling back the Clean Air Act in Illinois, co-sponsored a bill to require that 10% of electricity in the state come from renewable sources by 2012, and supported measures to increase energy efficiency codes.

• He introduced the Lead-Free Toys Act to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban any children’s product containing lead, with the bill still pending approval from Congress.

• Obama has shown steadfast commitment to protecting the Great lakes, which represent one-fifth of the worlds’ surface water, and ensured that Illinois receives adequate federal funding to operate a barrier that will prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan and disrupting the balance of the lake’s ecosystem.

• While campaigning, Obama emphasized that our dependency on foreign oil and the threat of a global climate crisis were not just ecological and economical challenges, but also serious national security issues. He promised that once elected he would bring scientists and entrepreneurs together in joint efforts to find solutions to these oft-neglected issues.

Agenda on Energy and the Environment:

• Obama has repeatedly emphasized the necessity of increasing fuel efficiency standards as both a major step towards climate control and a solution to our foreign oil crisis. Within the next ten years, he plans to save more oil than what we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined and hopes to put 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015.

• He refuses to endorse a gas-tax holiday and strongly opposes offshore oil-drilling.

• Obama has expressed on many occasions the need to invest in renewable energy such as wind and solar power, if he follows through on his promises, revenue raised from auctioning emissions permits somewhere between $30 billion and $50 billion a year –will be channeled toward developing and deploying clean energy technology, creating “green jobs,” and helping low-income Americans afford higher energy bills.

• He has proposed a $150 billion investment in the research and development of alternative renewable energies over a period of 10 years, and hopes that by 2012, 10% of our electricity will come from renewable sources with an increase to 25% by 2025.

• Obama wants to implement an economy-wide cap and trade program that would decrease greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.

While Obama is bringing hope to environmentalists by providing concrete goals and strategies for reaching them, some developing nations are criticizing Obama’s policies for not being an ambitious enough effort from the world’s biggest polluter, a country with emissions per capita that are almost five times China’s.  It may be a big step forward for Americans, these nations say, but is it enough to counter the environmental effect of the United States?

Obama has also been criticized for his support of ethanol, which he claims is necessary in the transition to renewable energy but which has also been widely publicized as a contributor to the global food crisis.

The point remains that few politicians have dared to put as much emphasis on environmental issues as our President Elect has, and we can only hope, in the way Obama taught us so well, that he will continue his efforts throughout his presidency, even as we face a currently rocky economic situation. With Americans up against an increasing unemployment rate, the policies of our future President may be more needed than ever—not just for the environment but for the sake of our financial future.

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