Who's The Greener Candidate? (Eco-Wise) Apparently Obama

Global Warming & Energy priorities for first 100 days

As you know, a common rubric for measuring the results of a new presidential administration is to evaluate priorities for its first 100 days in office. The League of Conservation Voters believes that the one issue area voters will be most focused on, when it comes to the environment, is energy and global warming. If you are sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, what will be your priorities in the energy and global warming arena for your first 100 days in office, and why? These may be achievable by executive action, legislative action, international action, or appointments.

"Energy independence and global warming are top priorities that I continually discuss on the campaign trail, and I will focus on them in my first months in office. I will use executive orders to restore federal leadership in energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. I will realign budget priorities to bolster research and development programs that can help to reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. I will nominate committed, highly qualified people to run the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and other related Departments. I will promote legislation to promote alternative energy, and I will personally act to restore American leadership in international discussions about global warming."

Please respond to the previous question but focus on environmental issues outside of the energy and global warming arena.

"There are many important environmental issues beyond global warming, and there is much work to be done. The Bush Administration reversed decades of bipartisan consensus and progress on the environment by using executive action to weaken environmental safeguards in clean air laws, clean water laws, and laws protecting our public lands. The Bush Administration issued regulations that allow power plants to emit more mercury pollution; they changed rules to allow discharge of untreated sewage; and they weakened protections established by the Clinton Administration for the most pristine areas of our national forests. I will use the first 100 days to begin undoing this damage by restoring these and other key environmental protections that have been under assault."


Priority compared to other issues for first 100 days

Many candidates for office, not just for president, intend or promise to do great things on many issues. How would you say environmental or conservation issues would rank as a priority for you in your first 100 days when compared to other issues? Why? Do you intend to personally attend to these issues?

"Environmental issues such as energy independence and global warming are among my top priorities, and I will personally attend to them as President. I believe we face a daunting crisis in global warming – one that could bring cataclysmic results and we need to act as a nation. One of my priorities will be promoting alternative energy through a Strategic Energy Fund. I believe we must develop clean energy technologies and jobs here in the United States. For the sake of our economy, our national security, and the health of our planet, we simply cannot afford further delays, and I will get to work immediately on these issues."

http://presidentialprofiles2008.org/Clinton/tab1.html

Global Warming & Energy priorities for first 100 days

As you know, a common rubric for measuring the results of a new presidential administration is to evaluate priorities for its first 100 days in office. The League of Conservation Voters believes that the one issue area voters will be most focused on, when it comes to the environment, is energy and global warming. If you are sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, what will be your priorities in the energy and global warming arena for your first 100 days in office, and why? These may be achievable by executive action, legislative action, international action, or appointments.

"Putting a price on carbon is the most important step we can to take to reduce emissions. As president, my first priority to combat global warming will be enacting an economy-wide cap on U.S. carbon emissions that will reduce U.S. emissions by the amount scientists agree is necessary (80%) for the U.S. to bear an equitable share of the global emissions reduction burden. I will devote significant resources from a permit auction toward accelerating the development and deployment of low carbon technologies, addressing the economic challenges imposed on key industrial sectors, and providing meaningful incentives for action by developing countries.

Another top priority for my energy and global warming agenda will be changing the cars we drive and the fossil fuels we burn. I will increase fuel efficiency standards to the limits of technological and economic feasibility; introduce legislation to lift the 60,000-per-manufacturer cap on buyer tax credits to encourage more Americans to buy ultra-efficient vehicles; and encourage automakers to make fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles by helping them shoulder the health care costs of their retirees. Domestic automakers will get health care assistance in exchange for investing 50 percent of the savings into technology to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. In addition, I will provide automakers with generous tax incentives for retooling assembly plants.

To change the fuels we burn, I introduced legislation to enact a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard that will reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of passenger vehicle fuels sold in the U.S. by 10 percent in 2020 and require additional reductions of 1% annually thereafter."

Please respond to the previous question but focus on environmental issues outside of the energy and global warming arena.

"Environmental health, including air pollution, will be a major priority of mine. For example, the EPA estimates that every year, more than one in six children could be at risk for developmental disorders because of mercury exposure in the mother's womb. This is unacceptable, and we can do better. As president, I will significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which in turn will reduce the amount that people ingest when eating fish.

Lead poisoning in children plummeted significantly since the banning of lead in paint and fuels -- yet today, there are 400,000 American children who continue to suffer from lead poisoning, most of these children from low-income families. As president, I will call on Congress to enact legislation I have introduced during my time in the Senate that would protect American children from lead poisoning. This legislation would prevent children’s products from containing lead, provide incentives for property owners to eliminate or contain lead paint in homes with low-income young children or women of child-bearing age, and require that all child care facilities outside the home be lead-safe within five years."


Priority compared to other issues for first 100 days

Many candidates for office, not just for president, intend or promise to do great things on many issues. How would you say environmental or conservation issues would rank as a priority for you in your first 100 days when compared to other issues? Why? Do you intend to personally attend to these issues?

"I believe that global warming is not just the greatest environmental challenge facing our planet—it is one of our greatest challenges of any kind. It is an issue that we ignore at our own peril and at even greater peril for our children, grandchildren, and many impoverished global populations. Combating global warming will be a top priority of my presidency, and I will attend to it personally.

I am acutely aware that the health of our environment is inextricably linked to another one of today’s most pressing issues: America’s spiraling health care costs. In my Administration, environmental protection will be understood as a cornerstone of disease prevention. We need to preserve our parks, forests, farms and wilderness, because they are beautiful and deserve our protection, but also because without these places, our children will become more sedentary. Our children have a right to be protected from environmental toxins like mercury and lead poisoning, and we must confront diesel pollution and the other environmental triggers that have led to an explosion in pediatric asthma in urban and rural areas alike. We also need to remember that environmental degradation is just one more force that disproportionately hurts low-income and minority communities. In fulfilling this obligation to practice disease prevention, we will also be pursing a more effective and economically efficient approach to health care.

In the end, I understand environmental protection to be a great calling on its own. But I also see it as part and parcel of a number of other national priorities, and that elevates its stature even further."

http://presidentialprofiles2008.org/Obama/tab1.html