Is President Barack Obama really a “Green-motivated” President?
Without a great deal of study some impressions come to mind:
-He did spend formative years in Hawaii, a state with great natural beauty. We’ve always felt that those that grow up around great natural beauty are more apt to want to protect it.
-He did spend most of his life in urban areas like Chicago, NYC, and DC. Sadly we’ve always found some of the least green folks are those from urban areas since they really do not see much natural beauty in their lives and just assume it’s not that important. (If you live in one of the 5 largest cities in the USA when was the last time you spent the nite on the ground outdoors away from your normal habitat?)
-He did appoint a fairly Green Secretary of Energy Chu and EPA Chief Salazar
-He did save GM for what many say was the Chevy Volt technology
-His record is conflicted on coal. Sometimes he seems anti coal and other times he’s promoting coal jobs in coal country to gain votes. He has enjoyed the economic benefits of the large rise in natural gas drilling but he has so far been against the large pipeline from Canada to the USA Gulf petroleum states
-He mentioned Sustainable Energy as one of the goals of his final four years in his Inaugural address.
We assume he will make the plans more concrete in the upcoming State of the Union. But when someone mentioned the “Green” parts of the Inaugural address he made it seem like it was more of an obligation than a passion.
So far our conclusion is that Barrack Obama is a pretty pragmatic guy. He puts his family first which we enjoy and most times the USA second, BUT the Democratic party is a very close 3rd in his life and if Green is good for votes to get Democrats elected he is for it, if not he sorta looks the other way.
He will sadly, unless the State of the Union proves us wrong, never be the Walt Disney of Green Governing. He will never do what needs to be done that is make a JFK “Reach the Moon” type of announcement that by 2025 we will not import any foreign oil, including from Canada; our economy will be 80% sustainable; we will learn to make money in the USA without an increasing population. All pretty progressive statements for most but what needs to be done eventually.
This is the first in a series of blogs we will do following the President and his intentions and the reality of his policies in the Green world from now til December 2016.
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