[Peace-discuss] Obama's environmental promises

[C. G. Estabrook]

New pipeline to challenge Obama's promises
Obama finally has the opportunity to make good on his environmental promises, 
but will he?
Bill McKibben Last Modified: 04 Aug 2011 13:15

It took some serious digging in the sock drawer, but eventually I found my 
'Environmentalists for Obama' button left over from the '08 campaign. I needed 
it because I'm headed to Washington in a couple of weeks to get arrested in 
front of the White House, and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be misunderstood.

I'm not alone - as many as a thousand people will risk arrest in daily protests 
at the White House over the last two weeks of August, making it the largest 
outbreak of civil disobedience in recent environmental history.

The target: a proposed 2,400 km pipeline from the tar sands of Alberta to the 
Gulf of Mexico. Those tar sands are the largest pool of carbon on the continent; 
the federal government's pre-eminent climate scientist, James Hansen, said 
recently that if we begin burning it in large quantities, it's "essentially game 
over" for the climate.

The politics

So in scientific terms it's a no-brainer (in fact, earlier this week more than a 
dozen of the nation's most senior climate scientists weighed in against the 
proposed pipeline). But in political terms? That's harder, because there's 
serious money at stake. Since the first permit must come from the State 
Department, for instance, it's probably no wonder that the pipeline consortium 
hired Hilary Clinton's former deputy campaign director as its chief lobbyist. 
And indeed, even before any data was collected, the secretary of state said she 
was 'inclined' to grant the permit.

There's real worry that the fix is in, especially since recently released 
WikiLeaks documents show American officials working with the tar sands companies 
to develop a strategy to 'spin' reporters and win favourable press coverage.

Still - the ultimate decision will rest with President Obama. Hence the sit-ins. 
And the buttons.

Because when you get right down to it, Obama has been a great enigma on the 
greatest crisis we've ever faced: the rapidly escalating heating of the planet.

On the one hand, his first stimulus package set aside some money for green 
investment (though a much smaller percentage than, say, China). And he's worked 
to persuade the auto companies he bailed out to raise mileage levels for their 
cars in the future.

But this is the guy who - the night he won the presidential nomination - said 
that with his ascension "the rise of the oceans would begin to slow, and the 
planet begin to heal".  By that standard, he's not even close.

Not keeping promises

Earlier this year he opened up a vast swath of Wyoming to new coal mining. And 
he barely offered even lip service in support of the climate bill that foundered 
in the Senate; in the words of the widely-respected climate blogger Joe Romm, 
"Obama's overall record on energy and the environment deserves an F. 
Fundamentally, he let die our best chance to preserve a liveable climate and 
restore US leadership in clean energy - without a serious fight."

Of course, Obama can say with some justification that his weak record on the 
environment results in part from having to work with a Congress so dominated by 
the fossil fuel industry that it voted earlier this year to deny the very 
existence of global warming. Which is why this pipeline question is so 
politically key: this time, Obama gets to make the decision all by himself. He 
doesn't have to answer to Oklahoma Senator Inhofe ("global warming is a hoax") 
or Rep. Michelle Bachmann ("It's all voodoo, nonsense, hokum")

Because the pipeline crosses our border, he needs to sign a finding that it's in 
the national interest - and if he doesn't, then the Tea Party can't force him. 
The right wing has made it clear it wants the pipeline built, but unlike the 
recent debt ceiling negotiations, it has no leverage. It's all on Obama this time.

Which is why we'll be outside his house this August. Because we want to believe 
in the words of that skinny senator from Illinois during his campaign; because 
we want to show him the depth of the support he can call on if he stands up just 
this once to the fossil fuel industry. I'll wear my button with pride - and a 
little trepidation too.

Bill McKibben is one of the founders of tarsandsaction.org, which is organising 
this month's civil disobedience.