Part 1 - President Obama Article

Part 1

The United States’ environmental policy began when President Nixon in 1969-1970 signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and later in the year created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With the EPA, environmental programs were consolidated into a single entity and further lead to the Clean Air Act and Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments in the same year. The birth of the environmental movement and supporting policies signaled the United States’ efforts in the recognition and struggle to protect the environment. With the administrations that followed President Nixon, additional advancements were made in measuring problems and being innovative with our approach to protecting the environment. In this regard, the Obama administration is in line with the core intent of environmental policy issues and is aligned with previous administrations in funding research and development in cleaner forms of energy with the exception of the Reagan and Bush administrations.

Although the Obama administration’s environmental policy is aligned with the previous administrations, the nature of environmental issues have changed since the 1970s. I singled out the Reagan and Bush administrations as not being aligned with the intentions of the environmental policy that was established by President Nixon. President Reagan entered into office openly unsympathetic to environmental issues. With the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 he gradually reduced the EPA’s budget by 30 percent and cut the number of EPA employees. He then appointed people at key agency positions who would enthusiastically follow the Reagan administration. Under this strategy environmental policies were written and interpreted more favorable for industry interests.

As for the Bush administration, within two months of taking office, President Bush reversed a campaign pledge to impose controls on carbon dioxide emission from power plants and withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol despite pleas from world leaders and much of the scientific community. Fortunately, the end of the Reagan and Bush administrations resulted in the rebirth of meaningful environmental policies that have brought us to the Obama administration where President Obama recently announced that part of his “clean energy” agenda was to reduce dependence on foreign oil and create more jobs.

Although reducing dependence on foreign oil and creating more jobs are clichéd goals to make, President Obama has been actively taking the necessary steps to ensure we are heading in the green direction. Administrations officials mentioned that new moves were based on scientifically sound research that resulted in a green light for coal-based electricity and corn based fuel. Furthermore, there will be implementation of new technology that would allow for continued use of coal without emissions of heat-trapping gases. Although I do not disagree with Obama’s policies on environmental issues, I would have appreciated a firmer U.S. stance at the Copenhagen summit in December 2008. The summit was an opportune moment for President Obama to solidify the American position on environmental policies and could have essentially marked a new beginning for climate change measures around the globe. Additionally, I hope to see more detailed information on the “sound scientific research” that has resulted in technologies that allow for use of coal without heat-trapping gas emissions and how that applies to the environmental costs of mining and processing coal.

Reference Part 1

Schoof, Renee. February 4, 2010. “Biofuels, Coal are part of Obama’s Clean-Energy Plan.” Retrieved February 6, 2010 from http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100204/BUSINESS01/2040332/1003/BUSINESS