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SierraScape June - July 2009
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President Obama's 100 Days of Change Make Down Payment on Clean Energy Future
information provided by
Sierra Club National
Statement of Carl Pope,
Sierra Club Executive Director
"It is difficult to overstate the tremendous progress
President Obama
has made in just 100 days. He has moved swifter
and smarter than any president in recent memory. While naysayers
warned of doing too much too quickly, President Obama maintained
his resolve and his boldness is backed by overwhelming majorities
of the American public.
"President Obama has done more to lay the foundation
for the clean energy future in three months than has been done
in the previous three decades. His economic recovery plan, the
budget, and a sweeping set of executive branch actions amount
to a huge down payment on a cleaner, more prosperous future.
"We have finally closed the books on the Bush era of
climate denial once and for all. President Obama and his team
of the best and the brightest have restored credibility, competence,
and the rule of law to our government. Science is allowed to
lead and agencies like the Department of Interior and the
Environmental Protection Agency are once again in the business
of protecting the public and our planet.
"If what's past is prologue, we will have much to be
hopeful about in the days to come. We will continue to work
closely with the administration as we move on to the next phase
of the president's sweeping plans to make us more energy independent,
create millions of clean energy jobs, and close the carbon loophole."
Major Energy & Environment Accomplishments of President
Obama's First 100 Days:
- American Recovery & Reinvestment Act's
nearly $100 billion in green spending to get our economy back
on track and create millions of new clean energy jobs.
- The President's Budget plan that makes clean energy and closing
the carbon loophole a top priority, while also fully funding
energy and environmental programs across the federal government.
- Declaring carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a threat
to public health and welfare and beginning the process of regulating
the carbon pollution that causes global warming
- Appointing an energy and environment team composed of the
best and brightest minds available, including
Carol Browner
(White House),
Nancy Sutley
(CEQ),
Lisa Jackson
(EPA),
Steven Chu
(Energy),
Ken Salazar
(Interior),
Hilda Solis
(Labor),
Tom Vilsack
(Agriculture)
and many other overwhelmingly qualified candidates.
- Reevaluating the California clean cars waiver and outlining
plans for a strong, environmentally sustainable domestic auto
industry
- Protecting over 2 million acres of wilderness, rivers, and
parks
- Canceling the Bush administration's last minute fire sale
on public lands
- Scrapping the Bush administration's disastrous and destructive
oil shale plans
- Affirming that science and the rule of law will once again
lead
- Putting the U.S. back at the center of international climate
negotiations
- Putting the disastrous Bush offshore drilling plan on hold
- Making renewable energy priority number one at the Department
of the Interior
- Reversing the Bush rule on mountaintop removal coal mining
and halting several individual mining permits
- Halted the Bush administration's last-minute assault on the
Endangered Species Act