Greener News » obama

Obama Pursuing Climate and Clean Energy Targets: Year 1

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:28:06 +0000

President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition, the Center for American Progress proposed a 10-point clean-energy agenda for the president and Congress that would speed the economic transformation to a clean energy economy.

A review of these items today finds that all were adopted or are working their way through the process. This is a startling achievement amidst the worst economy in 70 years, two wars, and an opposition party disinterested in cooperation. President Obama did much of what he promised, and he can do more in 2010 by cajoling Congress to do its part.

Kyoto Protocol: An Anti-Climate-Tic Ending

jfranklinrp85 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:43:16 +0000

As 2012 draws closer and closer, so too does the end of the prestigious Kyoto protocol.

The Kyoto protocol is a global initiative aimed at stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Which as most would agree is a great thing.

Although according to NPR, drafting a new agreement in the near future seems unlikely. The reason for this is strong opposition from the United States Congress. Although President Clinton signed the original pact, the U.S. refused to ratify the original agreement and is slowing the creation of a new draft because the original pact did not require any action from developing countries like China, which is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter.

Both the Bush and the Obama administration felt that this was a fatal flaw in the protocol. There has been little progress but not for lack of effort. In an interview between NPR and European Commission Vice President, Margot Wallstrom, she said that it has been very difficult negotiating a treaty that the U.S would agree to and that all parties involved would rather be on track to a solution.

Hopefully these issues will be worked through in December when world leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss next steps.

Turning “Wastelands” into Energy

keithabecker — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:34:06 +0000

The United States Interior Department has found a use for 670,000 acres of previously considered worthless sunny deserts and wind-swept plains: solar energy production.

As part of President Obama’s pledge to move away from reliance on fossil fuels and to double renewable energy in three years, the plan has identified 24 solar energy zones spanning six states that could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.

At the same time, it has become a controversy as environmentalists and politicians, including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, have decried federal plans to open ecologically sensitive land to development.

“This environmentally sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources or land users,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, hoping to appease doubts about the plan.

The department says the objective is to provide landscape-style planning and zoning for solar projects on Bureau of Land Management lands in the West, allowing a more efficient process for permitting and sitting responsible solar development .