Obama and the Environment

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/EnvironmentFactSheet.pdf

To some, one of the single most important factors that is taken into consideration when going to the poles to vote is the candidate’s views on environmental issues. Think about it. How often are the issue of global warming, gas prices, conservation of energy, pollution, and the climate in general discussed on television, on the radio, in the newspapers? Yes. These are serious matters. Not only do we need to worry about these issues destroying our world in the future, we need to worry about these issues and how they are destroying our world now. It only takes one person to make a difference, and that person, when voted into the white house in 2008, is going to be Barack Obama. Climate change, clean air, clean water, and overall, a cleaner nation are the concerns, in Obama’s eyes, that take precedence over all others.
When it comes to the climate, there is only so much we, as a nation, can do to change it. We cannot tell the climate that we do not like the way it is behaving and we think it needs to change. However, what we can do is monitor our own actions and activities in order to cut back on the problem. Obama has set short term and long term goals pertaining to our climate status that require the participation of the entire nation. By the year of 2050, Obama wishes to have reduced carbon emissions by 80 percent. He plans to do this by implementing a market-based cap-and-trade system. The idea of a cap-and-trade system is to establish a national cap as to the use of emissions, which essentially is just a fancy way of saying that the amount of pollution allowed will be restricted. The key points Obama touches on when talking about climate change are: invest in a clean energy economy and create American jobs, invest in the fastest, cleanest way to reduce emissions: energy efficiency, and make the U.S. a leader in combating climate change around the world.
In the article, it is stated that numerous people have died and continue to die each year because of air pollution. If he wins the election, Obama plans to implement the Clean Air Act which will fight for the reduction of pollution such as smog and soot. Throughout his campaign process, Obama has already “helped block attempts to roll back environmental regulations on oil refineries.” Another key factor he plans to focus in on is to reduce health risks caused by mercury pollution by banning the export of elemental mercury.
No one likes dirty water. Neither does Obama. On the issue of clean water, Obama fully supports the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. This program funds “protection projects for wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution control, and watershed and estuary management.” Obama’s hope in his presidency is to further improve the quality of our nation’s lakes, rivers, and drinking water. He plans to do this by regulating CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), restore the wetlands, restore the Great Lakes, and clean up the water in the west.
Our environmental situation is quickly plummeting in a downward spiral. Someone needs to take action and someone needs to take action now. This is exactly what Barack Obama plans to do if elected to be our nation’s next president. His ideas on how to better our environment are reachable and will result in a healthier environment for our entire nation. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 8, 2007, Obama said, “By 2050 famine could force more than 250 million from their homes…. The polar ice caps are now melting faster than science had ever predicted…. This is not the future I want for my daughters. It’s not the future any of us want for our children. And if we act now and we act boldly, it doesn’t have to be.”