Obama: The Environmentalist?

So we’re going to do something a little different here on GreenerTrends, as is our way. We’re going to have back-to-back(ish) posts on the environmental positions of Obama and McCain. Obviously we’re not a political website, though occasionally we do swerve into political commentary. However, given that elections actually are important in what happens regarding Greener Trends (get it? That’s our website’s name!), outside of just policy, we think that it’s important to inform readers as best we can regarding the environmental positions of the candidates. So, I’m up first covering Obama, and Rob will post shortly regarding McCain. We’re going to try to keep the posts relatively short, because no one wants 9 pages of blog, but they’ll probably run a little longer than your average post. Let us know if you enjoy this style, because there are a lot of issues within the “green” arena that lend themselves to competitive posting.

Obama: Not Just Yo-Mama When It Comes To The Environment

Ok, actually I don’t know if he is or not. Your mother could be very environmentally conscious, in which case Obama and she might get along because he seems generally strong on the environment, especially during his time in Congress.

We’ll start with a broad overview looking at his policy introduction and voting performance. The League of Conservation Voters, one of the more policy oriented environmental groups, gave him high marks in both ’05 and ’06 (95 and 100, respectively) though last year his rating dropped due to missed votes because of what I assume to be the rigors of campaigning. These scores indicate that, essentially, Obama voted for every piece of major, positive, environmental legislation when he was there to do it. Just as a contrast, McCain got a 0 in 2007 (Yes, that actually says zero).

Again, generally speaking, as in all things, Obama is for Change regarding environmental policy; changing levels of greenhouse gasses, changing fuel efficiency, changing fuel itself, and changing environmental policy. We’ll get into the specifics momentarily, but suffice to say, he’s a change-a-holic, though some these changes are couched as more-or-less stationary policies.

I’ve broken down his Congressional role and his policy stances on the campaign trail as a way to organize this piece, with three broad themes that he seems to hit on regularly in his speeches being woven into those two major sections. It certainly isn’t the only way to organize his policies, and if there are any I’m missing, or any I’ve been misinformed about, I’d be happy to know.

Congressional Role in Environmental Policy:

While he was in Congress, and still showing up, Obama co-sponsored two important policy measures within the “Global Warming” arena. These were the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, meant to reduce greenhouse gasses by 80% by the year 2050, and the Climate Stewardship Act, with the 20% lower goal of 60% reductions by 2050. He also co-sponsored the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act. It’s interesting to note that he seems flexible on how rigorous a piece of legislation should be, or perhaps has a significant focus on getting something passed. Outside of those three policies, in all honestly, it doesn’t seem like he’s been a major environmental mover, though he’s more than willing to take strong stances on policies that may be enacted if he becomes president as can be seen below. Basically, while in Congress, the guy showed up, voted well, and went home.

It should be noted that Obama considers some of his heath policies as part of his environmental campaign because he consistently gives them as answers to environmental questions. He has been particularly strident in his efforts to reduce mercury and lead contamination, though again, the legislation he’s introduced has had a health focus.

Policy Stances on the Campaign Trail:

Outside of Congress, and especially on the campaign trail, Obama has been far more active in “introducing” legislation; supporting a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions from energy companies, coming out in favor of coal-to-liquid technology and ethanol, demonstrating qualified support for nuclear power, and talking about a slew of fuel consumption and makeup efforts. In all of these policy stances, Obama attempts to contextualize them within three major issues. The first is American oil dependence on foreign, sometimes unfriendly, nations, the second is global climate change, and the third is health.

Obama combines the issues of oil dependence and global warming on the policies dealing with fuel, particularly. Goals include a Schwarzenegger-esque plan for a reduction in the carbon in fuels; 5% by 2015 and 10% by 2020, and 1% a year after. Similarly, Obama has suggested a plan that will require fuel efficiency standards to increase by 4% a year towards the goal of 40mpg within 10 years, and 60mpg within 20.

He has also suggested a goal of carbon neutral buildings by 2030 and 25% of government energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. Along with these goals, Obama has stated that he wants energy efficiency improved by 50% nationally by 2030 through programs like the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs for more energy efficient ones by 2014. He has suggested several other programs, particularly to assist auto-manufacturers with supporting the cost of R&D into energy efficient vehicles. One of these involves introducing a subsidy to offset the health care costs of car companies that invest 50% of their savings into fuel-efficiency development. Another lifts the 60,000 per-manufacturer cap on buyer tax credits for fuel-efficient vehicles.

In the health arena, Obama combines conservation efforts with pollution reduction, citing “polluter pays” as a policy to be re-introduced into Superfund sites and increasing regulation and fines for heavy metal pollution. Additionally, almost as a side note, Obama is against offshore drilling, supporting a continued moratorium, and against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), two hot-button issues for environmentalists, and two significant departures from McCain.

Overall Assessment:

My overall assessment of Obama’s environmental record and plans is mixed. While I think his performance in Congress has been pretty exemplary (save this past year of missing votes), I worry about some of the policy positions he’s taken on the campaign trail. The plan is ambitious, but it includes elements like coal-to-liquid technology that while helping one of his goals, foreign oil dependence, is significantly detrimental to the other, the reduction of greenhouse gasses, as well as his qualified support for nuclear energy. Also, his seemingly unqualified support for ethanol really scares me, even if he does suggest cellulose ethanol versus corn.

I do think, on the political front, that he’s playing it smart. He is using valence issues like foreign oil dependence and health to further environmental goals, something I have no problem with whatsoever, as people need palatable policy. Additionally, global climate change is going to be a significant issue for many of those who could be considered Obama’s base, so to bundle the package of the three is political savvy at its best.

At the end of the day, like so many thing in politics for me, it will unfortunately come down to who I feel will do less harm. At this point I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Obama, but I’ll reserve final judgment for when Rob posts McCain’s positions, so I can make a more informed choice. Check back soon for his update.

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Tagged as: obama, Policy, politics