Obama Cranks Up Green Revolution
http://www.truthout.org/122108E
The next US president is reversing Republican policy on global
warming
by putting leading scientists in key posts. Geoffrey Lean reports.
Barack Obama yesterday promised to end George Bush's "twisting"
of
science to suit "politics or ideology" in an extraordinarily
outspoken
address to the nation, and announced that he was putting top climate
scientists in key positions in his administration.
The move, which signals perhaps his sharpest break with the
outgoing administration, makes it clear that he was going to put
climate change and the environment among the most urgent priorities
of
his presidency.
And as if to emphasise the difference, President Bush is using
his
last weeks of power to push through a record number of last-minute
rule changes to increase mining and oil drilling on public lands, and
even to allow people to carry concealed, loaded guns into national
parks.
During its years in office the Bush administration attempted to
muzzle senior government scientists who disagreed with it, and even
altered scientific reports - causing more than 60 top academics to
sign a petition accusing the White House of manipulating findings for
political reasons.
But in his weekly radio address, Mr Obama pointedly promised to
end this. "Promoting science is about free and open inquiry," he
said.
"It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or
obscured by politics or ideology. It's about listening to what our
scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient - especially when
it's inconvenient. That will be my goal as president of the United
States."
The president-elect used the address to announce his top
scientific appointments, which included two of the world's most
respected climate scientists, John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco, in a
move warmly welcomed even by the country's top Republican
environmentalist. They will have enormous influence over his
government's green policies.
The appointments follow the naming earlier this month of Steven
Chu - a Nobel prize-winning physicist, and another prominent advocate
of urgent measures to tackle climate change - to the key position of
energy secretary, and a decision to create a special office on energy
and climate within the White House headed by Carole Browner, Bill
Clinton's former environment chief.
Both Professors Holdren and Lubchenco are past presidents of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor
Holdren, a professor at Harvard University and director of the blue-
chip Woods Hole Research Center, will be science adviser to Mr Obama,
who has elevated the position to an official assistant to the
president.
He recently called for immediate action on climate change, saying
that it was already causing "widespread harm". But he is also
sceptical about nuclear power, reflecting a feeling in the Obama team
that it cannot be made economical.
Professor Lubchenco, of Oregon State University, a similarly
outspoken expert on oceans and global warming, is to be the first
female administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, which measures the pace of global warming, tracks
hurricanes and monitors the health of the world's seas.
The chief scientist at Defra, Professor Bob Watson, who worked in
the Clinton White House, said yesterday that Obama was putting
together "a phenomenal team of world- class scientists", as a sign
that he was "totally committed to the environment".
William K Reilly - President George Bush's environment chief and
the country's leading Republican environmentalist - told The
Independent on Sunday that he was "very pleased" by the appointments
of "long-standing advocates of addressing climate change".
In another clear indication that the incoming team has taken on
board the arguments of those advocating a "green new deal" that
expanding environmental industries and jobs is the best way out of
the
recession, Mr Obama on Friday signed up a vocal advocate of green
jobs, Hilda Solis, to be his labour secretary. The Californian
congresswoman will be a key figure in implementing a plan to create
millions of green jobs.
US environmentalists, however, are split over yet another
appointment - of Colorado senator Ken Salazar - as secretary of the
interior. It was welcomed by the top environmental pressure groups,
but smaller and more radical ones said he had had a mixed record in
congressional votes. "He's far from the most anti-environmental guy
out there," says Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological
Diversity, "but he's no environmental hero."
Meanwhile, Mr Bush has been pushing through a record number of
so-
called "midnight regulations". He has enabled coal-mining firms to
dump waste in valleys, relaxed pollution rules from factory farms,
and
allowed companies that produce toxic wastes to burn them as fuel.
Barack's Green Team
Professor Steven Chu The Nobel Prize-winning physicist becomes
Energy Secretary. He is a forceful advocate of America's urgent move
towards carbon-free energy.
Professor John Holdren A physicist at Harvard University who
directs the prestigious Woods Hole Research Centre, he will have the
ear of the President as Obama's top scientific advisor.
Professor Jane Lubchenco A leading expert on the effects of
global
warming on oceans, she becomes the first woman administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Congresswoman Hilda Solis The new Labour Secretary advocates
providing employment through a clean energy economy. She was key
sponsor of a Green Jobs Act last year.
Carole Browner Head of the Environmental Protection Agency under
President Clinton, she is on the radical side of the party and will
head a White House energy and climate unit.
Senator Ken Salazar Ten-gallon-hatted Colorado Senator Ken
Salazar
is more controversial as Interior Secretary. The top environment
groups are pleased but radicals have doubts.
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