Throughout his campaign, President-elect Obama underlined the importance of dealing swiftly and decisively on the climate-in fact he mentioned it as one of his top 3 priorities for his presidency.
Obama and his team will be making some very important decisions in the next few weeks. Obama's transition team will be appointing agency heads, establishing priorities and timelines and assessing what they can get done as soon as they take office.
They're going to be faced with some tough and unpopular choices in the coming weeks. With the struggling economy, a planet in peril and a dangerous addiction to fossil fuels, there's a lot to do. Luckily Sen. Obama has a strong record on global warming and energy. Sen. Obama has committed to 80 percent reductions in global warming pollution by 2050. The Obama campaign has committed to using executive action to regulate global warming pollution, if necessary.
Sen. Obama's stump speech always included a promise to create millions of new green jobs. His energy plan gets even more specific. He wants to create 5 million new 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.
He has also committed to re-engage with the international community, which has been working tirelessly on global climate regulations despite the Bush administration's refusal to cooperate for the past eight years. Obama has said he will re-engage with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and has agreed to be represented at the climate negotiations in Poland. And Americans are on board. A recent poll shows that nearly three-quarters of people believe that the U.S. must lead other countries in solving global warming.
But the rippling effects of the election, which saw climate-friendly Democrats defeating some of the staunchest climate deniers ) show that the tide is truly turning.
Sensing these imminent changes, the Bush administration has been frantically trying to push through "midnight regulations" to roll back environmental protections. Knowing that Obama's victory means the country will move toward more climate-friendly policies, he's trying to slide through pro-business, anti-environmental policies as a last-chance giveaway to his corporate cronies.
President Bush's successor will not share his unwavering commitment to de-regulation and giveaways to big business at the expense of the environment. Consequently, Bush now must try to finish the job himself, in the process cementing his legacy as the most anti-environment president in our nation's history.
As these power struggles continue to brew after this game-changing election, it's crucial that we throw our strong, strong support behind the new administration. That's why we're rallying on the Senate lawn next week. Just as activists have gathered in Washington to demand action from our politicians, we will stand strong with our allies and celebrate a leader who support us.
But it's far from over. There's a big mess to clean up, and it's going to take hard work.
Our eight-year interlude from reality draws to a close, and the job of cleaning up begins. The trouble is, we're not just cleaning up after a failed US presidency. We're cleaning up after a two-century binge. -Bill McKibben
Please join us in standing with our leaders to demand strong action on climate change! If you take one day this year to show your support for strong climate legislation, it's now.