President Obama: What this means for the environment

The results are in, and a new U.S. president will be sworn in next January. While President-elect Obama has some pretty big issues on his mind -- like the economic crisis and the Iraq war -- greenies like you and me are probably hoping that he doesn't forget his campaign promises to be an environmentally minded leader too.

Back during the nominating conventions, I looked at the Democratic party’s platform in regards to climate change, renewable energy, conservation, and similar issues. Let's see how these plans develope over the next four years.

Environmental activists are celebrating this election and feel that Obama can reverse the less-than-green actions of the Bush administration. Gene Karpinski of the League of Conservation Voters said of Obama's win: "America embraced change today. And the planet will be better for it."

Brent Blackwelder from Friends of the Earth said this election, "signals a strong rejection of the failed energy policies of the last eight years and a historic mandate for large-scale, transformational change."

Our friends over at Grist are full of useful ideas for an Obama administration. First, they suggest that Obama could make cabinet-level changes to better serve environmental policy -- such as raising the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet status and creating a Secretary of Climate. The U.K. and Canada took similar measures recently. Next, Grist has a list of people who might fill environmental jobs for the new president. That article includes links to background info and interviews.

WorldChanging.org solicited advice from eco-experts about what the next president can do in his first 100 days to improve the state of the world. Reducing oil dependency, rebuilding world cooperation, focusing on education, and investing in renewable energy rate high on many of the suggestion lists.

Treehugger.com reports on Middlebury College scholar-in-residence Bill McKibben's recommendations for the president-elect. Key initiatives should be instituting a stiff cap on carbon emissions and using investment in green energy to stimulate the economy.

Plenty Magazine notes that Obama's first act as president should be to reverse the last-minute anti-environment policies of President Bush: "a flurry of dozens of new rules that includes measures to lift important restrictions on mountaintop mining, exempt factory farms from emissions regulations, make it easier for developers to duck the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, and relax drinking water standards."

The new president has a big job in front of him. Good luck, Mr. Obama, the planet is watching.