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The administration of US President, Barack Obama, is taking the lead on global climate change, by taking steps to curtail CO2 emissions. The Environmental Protection Administration(EPA), after a review of the scientific evidence, will recognize carbon dioxide emissions, as well as other greenhouse gases, as possible threats to human health and safety. This move represents a clear departure from the policies of the administration of former President, George W. Bush, under whom the EPA did not recognize carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as pollutants. The previous reluctance of the US government to curb greenhouse gas emissions was an obstacle to any comprehensive global action on climate change, especially in developing nations.

The official White House website outlines President Obama's ambitious plan for the environment and energy. Some highlighted proposals of the New Energy for America plan include: a crackdown on excessive energy speculation, initiatives intended to end US dependence on foreign oil, through tax incentives, which the administration hopes will encourage consumers to purchase fuel efficient/hybrid vehicles, an increase in fuel efficiency standards, new standards for low carbon fuel, and policies intended to encourage safer, more responsible domestic oil and gas production. The Obama administration is also committed to the creation of "green jobs" which should simultaneously stimulate the faltering US economy while taking steps to lower the negative environmental impact.

The Obama administration also reversed an eleventh hour, Bush administration rule, which reversed a 1983 law prohibiting coal companies from dumping the waste from mountaintop removal, known in the coal industry as "valley fill" near waterways. The EPA is currently reviewing new permits for mountaintop removal mining, before they are issued, to ensure that they comply with existing legislation. This is not a moratorium on the controversial practice, as erroneous reports in the media originally stated. The EPA has also moved to reverse another last minute Bush administration rule excusing oil and gas companies form a review to determine the impact of new drilling on polar bears and other endangered species.

High ranking members of the current administration used the occasion of Earth Day as an opportunity to express their commitment to an ambitious environmental agenda and economic recovery, as well as the notion that they are not mutually exclusive. The President touted his clean energy program and green jobs at an Iowa plant that makes steel towers for wind turbines, Vice President Joe Biden announced the release in $300 million
intended for cleaner, urban mass transit, and standards for renewable offshore energy production were also announced. The success or failure this robust environmental policy and its political implications will guide aspiring politicians in the years to come.



Jason Grace
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany

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