Obama's first-year report card on the environment

[SallyMander]

The Center for Biological Diversity gives him a C:

President Barack Obama's first year in office has been a good news/bad news story for the environment. On endangered species, he revoked some damaging Bush-era policies but also stripped protection from gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes. On climate, he followed the Supreme Court's lead and declared carbon dioxide a threat to human health and welfare, but provided virtually no leadership in congressional and Copenhagen negotiations to develop a real solution to global warming. In our oceans, he took initial steps to address ocean acidification, but also increased the number of endangered sea turtles that can be caught and killed by industrial longline fisheries.

Overall, the Center for Biological Diversity gives the president's environmental record so far a "C." Take a look at Obama's first-year report card and share it with other people who care about wildlife. You can also read our press release for more details.

Obama's record, while much better than Bush's, is disappointing so far. He has not lived up to his campaign promises by a long shot. Luckily, there's still time to get him back on track: We have to show him America cares.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/9524/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1167020&t=

Press release here: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2010/report-card-01-19-2010.html


And here's the breakdown:




Edit to add link to the press release.

[tekisui]

1. Ouch. Too much political capital spent on health insurance and war.

Not enough left for the environment.

[FLAprogressive]

2. Allowing the continuation of mountaintop removal is an unforgivable sin in my book

[SallyMander]

5. I totally agree

:(

[appal_jack]

13. yup.

:(

[SallyMander]

17. Have you seen it in person aj?

I've only seen photos... and those almost make me cry. I can't imagine how horrible it must be in person...

:hug:

[appal_jack]

20. Not yet.

Fortunately (!) NC does not have the coal underneath it that VA and WV does. So I've only seen the photos of MTR.

Back in 1989, I was part of a bread and puppet - style theater group that traveled to Camp Solidarity to put on a play in support of the UMWA strike against Pittston Coal. This was before MTR had really taken-off as a mining technique, and the miners whom we visited all went underground to do their jobs. That type of coal mining was brutal to the workers and residents of the region too, but not nearly as destructive of the land itself.

It's so sad to think that things have gotten much worse in the interceding 21 years. Guess we gotta keep fighting to make it better.

:hug:

-app

[SallyMander]

21. I went on a mine tour once in WV

Talk about a brutal job... the tour guide was an ex-miner who had the lung disease so common with them (black lung? i think?) from years of working in that environment. He was really friendly and knowledgeable, but definitely didn't pull any punches about the effects of mining on people and the environment... Humans are so short-sighted sometimes. :(

Hope you have a great day today app :hug:

[stuntcat]

15. yes.

I am sick forever about what's happening.

[joeybee12]

3. I'd say that's about right...n/t

[timeforpeace]

4. Didn't he give himself an A on this?

[woo me with science]

6. Interesting. Thanks for posting this. nt

[amborin]

7. K&R for the sad truth

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

Thank you for the information!!!

[pleah]

9. K&R Ok if I share it one FB?

:)

[SallyMander]

11. Of course! I really like this organization

They're great at keeping people informed on environmental issues. If you are on Twitter, they are there too @CenterForBioDiv.

:hi:

[pleah]

12. Yeah, I do, too. I get their emails and I also

get their updates on FB. Thanks SallyMander!
:toast: :hi:

[bigwillq]

10. K and R

Thanks for this info.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. How does that compare to other presidents?

I appreciate the run down, but it would be more helpful to have some sort of comparison to look at.

[underpants]

16. The radio told me he wasn't perfect

:sarcasm:

Not great but it is an improvement

[stuntcat]

18. I got one issue

oh sure, teh humans and their rights are great, blah blah taxes health etc..

There was no way Obama could have made me happy without turning the whole culture upside down.
But why can't the PRESIDENT stand up and say "don't level ONE more single effing mountain"? I'm just glad I'm 40.

[SallyMander]

19. ...

:hug: