A look back on Barack Obama’s first year in office reveals the ups and downs of a president determined to change the course of his nation’s history. While the public has been criticizing his progress on health care reform, the economy, and two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama has managed to bring about major environmental policy reform.
Obama ran for president under a strong—considered radical by some—pro-environmental agenda. The then-junior senator from Illinois spoke openly and consistently about his commitment to reshaping American policy on the environment. Amongst other issues, he stressed the importance of investing in clean energy and green jobs, reducing American dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil, promoting fuel efficiency standards, and drastically curbing CO2 emissions to combat climate change.
Since his inauguration on January 20th of last year, Obama has arguably enacted more legislation to help protect the environment that any other president in U.S. history. In a speech delivered just two months after taking office, Obama pinpointed the course of action he was to take in his new role as president:
“So we have a choice to make. We can remain one of the world's leading importers of foreign oil, or we can make the investments that would allow us to become the world's leading exporter of renewable energy. We can let climate change continue to go unchecked, or we can help stop it. We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can create those jobs right here in America and lay the foundation for lasting prosperity."
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
The monumental $787 billion act was passed in February 2009, with $80 billion allocated towards clean energy investments aimed at relieving both the short and long term economic and environmental crises. The bill includes plans to overhaul the nation’s energy production and distribution by creating a national smart grid that will provide clean, renewable energy to millions of American homes and businesses.
ARRA also administers major funding for national, state, and local renewable energy and energy efficient programs, low-income weatherization projects, green job training programs, as well as government grants that promote the development of cleaner, next generation batteries for energy storage.
Improving Fuel Efficiency Standards
Just days after taking office, President Obama enjoined the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish improved fuel efficiency standards in vehicles manufactured beginning in 2011, citing that “[i]ncreasing fuel efficiency in our cars and trucks is one of the most important steps that we can take to break our cycle of dependence on foreign oil”. In May the president confirmed the new standards for both foreign and domestic vehicles for sale on the U.S. market, which mandate increasing fuel efficiency at a rate of 5 percent annually until 2016. Passenger vehicles will have then reached a standard of 35.5 mpg, far surpassing the 2009 standard of 25 mpg. The administration claimed the changes will greatly reduce CO2 emissions—the equivalent of removing some 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air.
Protecting Wildlife and Wilderness
In March 2009, Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, which officially recognizes over 2 million acres of national wilderness in nine states, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Virginia. The act further prohibits logging, mining, drilling, or the use of vehicles in the newly annexed preserves. President of The Wilderness Society, William Meadows, reacted to the passing of the bill stating:
“With passage of this bill, Congress has made a great gift to present and future generations of Americans. These protected wildlands make our communities better places to live, clean our air and water for free, and provide ecological resilience in the face of climate change.”
Proactive Backing of EPA
The U.S. Environmental Agency underwent a considerable overhaul under the Obama administration. The EPA is responsible for protecting human health and the environment, with federal jurisdiction over matters involving air, land, and water quality, as well as endangered species and hazardous materials.
Backed by President Obama, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced last month that the agency concluded that greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide, are hazardous to human life. EPA will now have the authority to regulate domestic greenhouse gas emissions for the first time ever. Jackson, who was chosen by Obama to serve in the EPA’s top position, highlighted the new administration’s commitment to combating the climate crisis:
“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform. Business leaders, security experts, government officials, concerned citizens and the United States Supreme Court have called for enduring, pragmatic solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that is causing climate change. This continues our work towards clean energy reform that will cut GHGs and reduce the dependence on foreign oil that threatens our national security and our economy.”
Leadership in Copenhagen
Concluding climate talks last month at the U.N. summit in Copenhagen, President Obama seemed optimistic, noting that “for the first time in history, all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change”. Critics feel the talks yielded disappointing results, and most nations expected the United States to have taken a considerably more aggressive approach to curbing CO2 emissions.
For many, however, Obama’s ongoing support to mitigate the climate crisis on an international level provides a renewed sense of leadership, as compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush. The international community scoffed at President Bush’s refusal to support the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, a forerunner to the Copenhagen Accord.
Part of the success of Obama's ambitious environmental policy reform was due to a Democratic-controlled House and Senate. After his party swept last year's national elections, the president has received strong support from fellow party members, enabling him pass consequential environmental legislation. Across the aisle, however, many Republicans have expressed their disapproval of Obama's agenda, claiming it will plunge the nation into further debt as well as raise energy costs for the average American already struggling with economic hardships. A number of environmentalists also maintain that the new administration is too soft on issues of ecological importance, alluding to the eight-year period of environmental inaction during the Bush administration.
Looking Forward
Perhaps the administration's largest environmental and economic contributions over the last year have been to reflect back to the American people their growing awareness of the need for real environmental action and responsibility. Despite the mainstream media's distorted presentation of American values, Dr. Paul Ray's research indicates that 82.5% of Americans are united on the basic issues of reverence for nature and the need to stop the destruction of the globe's farmlands, forests, and oceans*.
While Obama's first year in office has seen a significant shift in attitude and policy regarding the environment and the need to engage green economics, there is still a need to push American business and commerce strongly in the direction of easing the burden that our culture is placing on itself, other nations, and the earth. As businesses are beginning to engage green practices, they are finding that one of the core issues, efficiency, is not only beneficial to the environment, but to their own bottom line
* The Potential for a New, Emerging Culture in the U.S. - Report on the 2008 American Values Survey By Paul H. Ray, Ph.D.
