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Is Obama the ‘environmental president’?
Is Obama the ‘environmental president’?
By David Roberts
Several people have asked me what I think of Jonathan Chait’s new column in New York magazine: “Obama Might Actually Be the Environmental President.” Apparently some folks are quite upset about it and think it’s terrible, though I’m not entirely sure why...Chait mostly gets it right. He’s right that Obama has made much more progress on climate and clean energy than he gets credit for. He’s right that Obama has mostly done it through the stimulus bill and a series of low-key regulatory actions, rather than through high-profile “green” fights...And — perhaps more controversially — Chait is right that the decisions Obama makes on Clean Air Act authority in his second term are more significant, in carbon terms, than the much more high-profile decision he’s going to make on the Keystone XL pipeline. (Glad to see Chait call out NRDC’s ingenious proposal to make carbon regulations do serious work at low cost.)
What I think has my friends upset, and where they differ, is Chait’s overall assessment: that Obama is therefore “the environmental president.” The question here is — as it is for every historical figure, but especially Obama, and especially on climate — compared to what?
Is Obama a success on climate compared to what needs to be done? Ha ha. No. Of course not. But then all world leaders fail that test...A success on climate compared to previous presidents? Or to a possible President Mitt Romney? Well, of course. Clinton and Gore bungled it and George W. Bush crammed it forcefully out of sight. Mitt Romney would have done doodly-squat. (And no, John McCain wouldn’t have done anything either.) Compared to nothing, Obama’s done a fantastic job.
<...>
The question for me is whether Obama has been a success compared to what was (and is) possible. And here, I’m with Chait: If he delivers ambitious regulations on existing power plants, then yes, Obama will be an overall success on climate and energy...Given the situation he inherited — a vertiginous economic crisis followed by persistent high unemployment, a Republican Party now single-mindedly devoted to nihilistic opposition, and a series of choke points like the filibuster that give a committed congressional opposition almost total veto power — he has accomplished a miraculous amount...There’s more he could have done, of course, but as Chait himself has written, the American public and commentariat alike are deep in the grips of magical thinking about the presidency, blowing it up all out of proportion to its real power (on domestic policy, at least). Unless his agenda is shared by a large and muscular congressional majority — and Obama’s climate agenda is not, as was painfully demonstrated — the president has to work by hook or by crook, incrementally, in the margins. Ritually chanting “bully pulpit” and “leadership” won’t change that.
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http://grist.org/politics/is-obama-the-environmental-president/
By David Roberts
Several people have asked me what I think of Jonathan Chait’s new column in New York magazine: “Obama Might Actually Be the Environmental President.” Apparently some folks are quite upset about it and think it’s terrible, though I’m not entirely sure why...Chait mostly gets it right. He’s right that Obama has made much more progress on climate and clean energy than he gets credit for. He’s right that Obama has mostly done it through the stimulus bill and a series of low-key regulatory actions, rather than through high-profile “green” fights...And — perhaps more controversially — Chait is right that the decisions Obama makes on Clean Air Act authority in his second term are more significant, in carbon terms, than the much more high-profile decision he’s going to make on the Keystone XL pipeline. (Glad to see Chait call out NRDC’s ingenious proposal to make carbon regulations do serious work at low cost.)
What I think has my friends upset, and where they differ, is Chait’s overall assessment: that Obama is therefore “the environmental president.” The question here is — as it is for every historical figure, but especially Obama, and especially on climate — compared to what?
Is Obama a success on climate compared to what needs to be done? Ha ha. No. Of course not. But then all world leaders fail that test...A success on climate compared to previous presidents? Or to a possible President Mitt Romney? Well, of course. Clinton and Gore bungled it and George W. Bush crammed it forcefully out of sight. Mitt Romney would have done doodly-squat. (And no, John McCain wouldn’t have done anything either.) Compared to nothing, Obama’s done a fantastic job.
<...>
The question for me is whether Obama has been a success compared to what was (and is) possible. And here, I’m with Chait: If he delivers ambitious regulations on existing power plants, then yes, Obama will be an overall success on climate and energy...Given the situation he inherited — a vertiginous economic crisis followed by persistent high unemployment, a Republican Party now single-mindedly devoted to nihilistic opposition, and a series of choke points like the filibuster that give a committed congressional opposition almost total veto power — he has accomplished a miraculous amount...There’s more he could have done, of course, but as Chait himself has written, the American public and commentariat alike are deep in the grips of magical thinking about the presidency, blowing it up all out of proportion to its real power (on domestic policy, at least). Unless his agenda is shared by a large and muscular congressional majority — and Obama’s climate agenda is not, as was painfully demonstrated — the president has to work by hook or by crook, incrementally, in the margins. Ritually chanting “bully pulpit” and “leadership” won’t change that.
- more -
http://grist.org/politics/is-obama-the-environmental-president/
One could look the administration's achievements through Lisa Jackson's tenure at the EPA.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Leaves a Legacy of Cleaner Air, Safer Water, and More Stable Climate
<...>
By honoring the law and protecting the health of ordinary people, Jackson showed us that sound government leadership makes our nation stronger and more vibrant. I am sorry to see her leave the Obama administration, but I know her accomplishments will live on in the form of cleaner air, safer drinking water, and a more stable climate.
The first-ever national standards to limit mercury and other dangerous emissions from power plants, for instance, will save up to 11,000 American lives every year. They will also prevent nearly 5,000 heart attacks annually and protect children from neurological damage. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that damages developing brains in children and fetuses, yet power plants have been resisting mercury rules for decades—even as every other major industrial sector in America already started reducing their mercury pollution. Jackson knew it was time for power plants to clean up their act, and she established strong standards that will finally prompt them to do so.
As the mother of a boy who suffers from asthma, Jackson has been a fierce champion of the Clean Air Act. But she has also pushed to make our nation’s waterways cleaner. She laid out the first comprehensive plan for saving the Chesapeake Bay from pollution that is literally choking the life out of the largest estuary in our country. She protected Appalachian streams from devastation by rejecting the Spruce No. 1 Mine—the largest mountaintop removal coal operation proposed in West Virginia—plan to dump rubble, coal dust, selenium, and other toxic pollution into the region’s waterways. And she worked tirelessly throughout the BP oil disaster to reassure Gulf residents that the administration would restore this national treasure.
But perhaps Jackson’s most far-reaching achievement is her leadership on climate change. She oversaw the EPA’s determination that carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases endanger human health and well-being. Following four decades of Clean Air Act precedent, the EPA used that determination as the basis to begin reducing carbon pollution.
- more -
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/epa_administrator_lisa_jackson.html
<...>
By honoring the law and protecting the health of ordinary people, Jackson showed us that sound government leadership makes our nation stronger and more vibrant. I am sorry to see her leave the Obama administration, but I know her accomplishments will live on in the form of cleaner air, safer drinking water, and a more stable climate.
The first-ever national standards to limit mercury and other dangerous emissions from power plants, for instance, will save up to 11,000 American lives every year. They will also prevent nearly 5,000 heart attacks annually and protect children from neurological damage. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that damages developing brains in children and fetuses, yet power plants have been resisting mercury rules for decades—even as every other major industrial sector in America already started reducing their mercury pollution. Jackson knew it was time for power plants to clean up their act, and she established strong standards that will finally prompt them to do so.
As the mother of a boy who suffers from asthma, Jackson has been a fierce champion of the Clean Air Act. But she has also pushed to make our nation’s waterways cleaner. She laid out the first comprehensive plan for saving the Chesapeake Bay from pollution that is literally choking the life out of the largest estuary in our country. She protected Appalachian streams from devastation by rejecting the Spruce No. 1 Mine—the largest mountaintop removal coal operation proposed in West Virginia—plan to dump rubble, coal dust, selenium, and other toxic pollution into the region’s waterways. And she worked tirelessly throughout the BP oil disaster to reassure Gulf residents that the administration would restore this national treasure.
But perhaps Jackson’s most far-reaching achievement is her leadership on climate change. She oversaw the EPA’s determination that carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases endanger human health and well-being. Following four decades of Clean Air Act precedent, the EPA used that determination as the basis to begin reducing carbon pollution.
- more -
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/epa_administrator_lisa_jackson.html
Lisa Jackson to Leave EPA: Earthjustice Statement
Statement from Earthjustice Vice President of Litigation Patti Goldman:
“America owes Lisa Jackson a debt of gratitude for her work to protect the public's health from polluters and their allies in Congress. For her efforts to clean up pollution and better protect the environment and public health, she faced a steady barrage from members of Congress and the industrial polluters who back them. Her detractors are the same people who told us taking lead out of gasoline in the 1970's would break the economy and that taking acid out of acid rain in the 1990's would ruin the country. In both cases, the environment and economy were strengthened and this is the approach Lisa Jackson took. There is a lot of unfinished business started by Jackson that the next EPA director will need to attend to. Whoever it is, they'll need the support of the President and they'll need to be ready for a non-stop barrage of attacks from the chemical, industrial and fossil fuel industries and their allies in Congress.
“After 17 years of Earthjustice litigation it was Lisa Jackson who finally regulated mercury and other toxic pollutants coming from power plants. After a decade of litigation from Earthjustice and others, it was Lisa Jackson who supported and implemented regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gases. After more than a decade of Earthjustice litigation it was Lisa Jackson who finally implemented the first regulation of mercury from cement kilns all over the country.”
http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2012/lisa-jackson-to-leave-epa-earthjustice-statement
Statement from Earthjustice Vice President of Litigation Patti Goldman:
“America owes Lisa Jackson a debt of gratitude for her work to protect the public's health from polluters and their allies in Congress. For her efforts to clean up pollution and better protect the environment and public health, she faced a steady barrage from members of Congress and the industrial polluters who back them. Her detractors are the same people who told us taking lead out of gasoline in the 1970's would break the economy and that taking acid out of acid rain in the 1990's would ruin the country. In both cases, the environment and economy were strengthened and this is the approach Lisa Jackson took. There is a lot of unfinished business started by Jackson that the next EPA director will need to attend to. Whoever it is, they'll need the support of the President and they'll need to be ready for a non-stop barrage of attacks from the chemical, industrial and fossil fuel industries and their allies in Congress.
“After 17 years of Earthjustice litigation it was Lisa Jackson who finally regulated mercury and other toxic pollutants coming from power plants. After a decade of litigation from Earthjustice and others, it was Lisa Jackson who supported and implemented regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gases. After more than a decade of Earthjustice litigation it was Lisa Jackson who finally implemented the first regulation of mercury from cement kilns all over the country.”
http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2012/lisa-jackson-to-leave-epa-earthjustice-statement
Here's a few of the accomplishments...
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1174138/48873639#c4
20 replies
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