Green Obama Wish List: 30 Groups And 7 Executive Orders

Now that Barack Obama is on his way to the White House, it seems his to-do list is getting longer and longer -- and it's not all about the automakers or the Treasury. Environmental groups, many also holding long views of the financial and physical security of the United States, have started making up their wish lists for a greener administration.

Treehugger reports that the Center for Progressive Reform has put together a list of seven executive orders it would like to see define an early and strongObama energy, climate and health policy, including:

1. Reduce the Federal Carbon Footprint

The new President should issue an Executive Order requiring each federal agency to measure, report, and reduce its carbon footprint. Not only would the Executive Order have a meaningful impact on the federal government's carbon emissions, it could also lead to the creation of uniform, practical standards for measuring such footprints, standards that could be applied government-wide and beyond. Each of the provisions of this proposed Order is consistent with the goals of the National Environmental Policy Act.

4. Environmental Justice

The next President should amend or replace the original Executive Order [12898] on Environmental Justice. The new Order should require a meaningful analysis of the environmental justice impacts and implications of all major new rules; impose on agencies a substantive obligation to take affirmative steps to ameliorate environmental injustice; launch an affirmative Environmental Justice agenda; hold agencies accountable for carrying out their environmental justice obligations; and clarify key terms from the current Order, including "environmental justice communities" and "subsistence," to avoid the kind of narrow interpretation of the terms applied by the Bush Administration. As is the case with the existing Executive Order on Environmental Justice, these recommendations are consistent with the goals of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

And Grist reports that 30 green groups had assembled their wish list for Obama climate and energy policy:

Their plans are largely consistent with what Obama campaigned on, and the groups are encouraging both the president-elect and Congress to use those plans as part of a larger economic recovery program. They call for reducing emissions at least 80 percent by 2050 and plans to move the country toward 100 percent renewable electricity.

The groups also urge the incoming president to grant California a waiver for tailpipe emissions standards, and to "use the Clean Air Act to declare that global warming pollution endangers public health and welfare and to set standards for power plants, vehicles, and fuels" (which Obama's advisers have said he could do).

Among the desired policies were to "use the Clean Air Act to declare that global warming pollution endangers public health and welfare," which reminds us a bit of the recent significant EPA decision that will hold coal plants to stricter standards.

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And that's not all.

The renewable energy industry is hoping to get something more closely resembling a level playing field with the fossil fuel industry, and they've outlined their Obama energy policy wish list, too.

Fortune's Green Wombat blog reports that it includes, among other things, a five-year extension of the production tax credit for the wind industry and a major infrastructure upgrade:

"If the administration and Congress can quickly implement these policies, renewable energy growth will help turn around the economic decline while at the same time addressing some of our most pressing national security and environmental problems," the green energy trade groups said in a joint statement.

No doubt those measures are crucial to spurring development of renewable energy and creating green collar jobs. But the major obstacle confronting the alt energy industry right now is the credit crunch that is choking off financing for big wind and solar projects and scaring away investors from more cutting-edge but potentially promising green technologies.

A focus by President Obama and Congress on restoring confidence in the financial system will most likely do the most for green investment as well as restore luster to battered renewable energy stocks like First Solar (FSLR), SunPower (SPWRA) and Suntech (STP).

Comments

[GoVeg]

Here's my wish for Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ol_6Ju3oYI

[FrankKeegan]

http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/opinion/Species_ending_Its_our_call_story.html

Species ending? It's our call

By Frank Keegan
11/16/08
Relax general. Cheer up. Things shall get worse, but they could get better. The choice is ours.

Hearing a vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff utter the words "species ending" about our near future should be enough to wake us all.

Gen. James E. Cartwright uttered the phrase recently during the inaugural Johns Hopkins University Leaders + Legends lecture. He spoke on "Leading Organizational Change to Meet New Challenges."

What challenges? Financial crises, climate change, weapons of mass destruction widely and readily available to rogue states and lunatic groups. Is that all? No.

"Competition (for scarce world resources) inevitably will lead to conflict," Cartwright said. "Are we at a tipping point? Yes. Will we have control? No."

Generals are interested because when leaders of state, commerce and church mess up, armed forces have to clean up.

Cartwright"s love and admiration for the men and women who fight for us if things go wrong is palpable. Figuring out when and where the next conflict breaks out, and how best to combat it, is what generals are supposed to do.

Now they also try to figure out why, and ways to prevent it. For example, a 2004 Department of Defense study determined global warming is the No. 1 threat to the security of the United States. How can that be if ...

[SallyRB]

Hello! For the past three years I've served my gated community which covers 1876 acres, 26 miles of streets, over twelve miles of shoreline, about 2650 homes, many parks as well as an 18 hole golf course. Our Property Owners Association runs a 4M annual budget. And with a population of nearly ten thousand, we are indeed a small city. Currently, as a community we are all too much feeling the pain of the economical turn down incuring our share of foreclosures, home abandonment, and members financially unable to pay their dues.

As a Board of Director I am keenly interested to learn as much as possible regarding the possbility of my community becoming a role model community adventuring toward alternative energy for our entire community!

I post this comment inviting those to help point me to all avenues of interest, education, and reform opportunities.

Thank you for your follow up comments.

SRB / NW Indiana

[berrycooda]

Why should Calif. be granted a waiver for tailpipe emissions standards.

What is that about.....They must have a lot of pollution with all the traffic in Calif.

Some of this is overkill.....Here is a committee that their sole purpose is figuring out ways to
change America. In the meantime we are getting pollution from other sources.

Look at the volcano's that spew stuff all the time....Look at airplanes...Look at the damage earthquakes
do, and the mess they create...Look at the fires in Calif...Look at the pollution when there are buildings
that catch fire... Look at accidents that cause fires and the tires are burning. etc...etc....etc

Seems like their main interest is holding America hostage because of their views.
Meanwhile, a lot of our industry has moved because of the restrictions and per diem charged for
not changing everything to their expectations.

A town near me wanted to put up a windmill and EPA said no because it would interfere with
the flight pattern of the birds.......go figure.....

[ferky123]

Before you go spouting off about something take the time to read up on the subject. The tailpipe waiver is so that California can mandate higher fuel economy standards for cars. when they and the 13 other states mandate that then the US auto industry will have to finally produce more fuel efficient vehicles.

[LeiftheLucky]

Is global warming a fraud and a hoax?

http://allanerickson.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/global-warming-the-lie-the-fraud-the-swindle/

[ObjectiveRealist]

Getting rid of subsidies for idiotic corn ethanol would cost the Treasury nothing, and will absolutely be the necessary first step toward making way for some sensible alternative fuels.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=grass-makes-better-ethanol-than-corn
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/27/business/27proto.php

Progess isn't rocket science, it's just tearing down institutional obstructions to common sense. Subsidies to petroleum and corn ethanol producers are the stupidest and costliest. Start with those.

[NationalTreasure]

reduce carbon foot print ??

as long as the solution is not the idiotic cap and trade false paradigm

or tree planting and purchasing credits through the carbon exchange which is a bunch of crap -- that equates to nothing more than the old 60's mindset of dilution is the solution to pollution

purchasing carbon credits does not erradicate the pollution that is emitted when the emissions occur anc give wealthy a false sense of entitlement that they can buy their way out of their pollution impacts

[canucklivinginUSA]

I do not appreciate interest groups pressuring the man. Isn't that the problem with Washington in the first place? People need to chill

[mikey76]

The Obama Administration should directly buy stocks in wind energy. It is a win/win case. Clinton's Admin. made money off the stock exchange. It would also create jobs immediately. Do not say it ...... Do It!

[vippy]

Federal Carbon Foot Print - have we lost our minds? Everything is carbon based, everything we do.
How can there be a reduction? But then again, hey, more taxes.

[spinns17]

yes he can.

[iPolitics]

It's nice to have a 21st century president after 8 years with a late 19th century president