Congratulations to President Obama for his re-election victory last night, after a long and hard-fought campaign. Of course, while the electoral contest has concluded (finally!), the essential policy problems of U.S. government remain unresolved and still face the President, a divided Congress, and the country. Whether the U.S. can turn the page and begin to move beyond its current dysfunctional policymaking process on key issues remains to be seen.
For our part, we will be putting forward, step by step, an agenda for government accountability on climate science, policy, and politics during the next four years – with a primary focus on a White House and executive branch agenda that cannot hide behind congressional inaction and that does not depend on Congress to step up and take significant steps forward in the immediate future.
We will continue to be an independent voice, putting forward critical analysis and advocacy, giving credit to policymakers when credit is due, but calling on the President to set the bar higher for himself on climate change communication and action than what he has shown during his first term. He has an opportunity to marginalize the global warming denial machine and draw on popular support to counteract entrenched corporate power and wealth. The implications of global climatic disruption for the U.S. and the world demand that we find a way to shift movement on this challenge into a higher gear, now.
Earlier posts:
“Climate dialogue runs aground” (Al Jazeera, “Inside Story: US 2012”)
Toward Obama second-term leadership on climate science and policy
White House energy policy talk has ‘all of the above’ except climate change
“Obama and the Politics of Climate Science Communication”
Boykoff: Obama’s rhetoric of ‘clean energy’ vs. the reality of climate change
Obama’s approach to climate change is both part of the solution and part of the problem