Barack Obama
Senator Obama's enviro record certainly is impressive. In just two and a half years, he's introduced or co-sponsored over 100 eco-friendly bills, earning him a 100 percent on the LCV scorecard in 2006. On the climate front, he has called for an impressive 55 mpg fuel economy standard within 18 years. (The energy bill that was signed into law by President Bush on December 19, 2007, includes a 35 mpg standard by 2020.) Obama also co-sponsored the most aggressive piece of federal climate legislation this country's ever seen, the Boxer-Sanders bill, which called for an 80 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 and an immediate reduction of 20 percent by 2020. His own plan embraces similar targets.
But.
Senator Obama has ties to the coal industry in his home state of Illinois that have made some voters (and bloggers) squeamish. In January 2007, he was the lead sponsor of a bill providing billions in subsidies to the coal industry to turn coal into liquid — the dirtiest fossil fuel on Earth. It happened to coincide with the explosion of media interest on global warming, and he found himself in a pickle. So in June, he issued a statement of clarification: "Senator Obama will not support the development of any coal-to-liquid fuels unless they emit at least 20% less life-cycle carbon than conventional fuels." For some, the 20 percent add-on wasn't enough.
But In October 2007, Obama once again showed glimpses of solid climate leadership. He released a new and improved energy plan. And it's quite impressive on the details. He's got just about everything covered. A 25 percent RPS. A 100 percent auction in his cap-and-trade scheme. Commitment to global leadership. And yet, the pesky coal issue keeps rearing its ugly head. The biggest question mark surrounds his commitment to ending dirty coal. In his new plan, he doesn't explicitly call for a moratorium on the building of conventional new coal plants -- or the phasing out existing ones -- and he doesn't say he's against liquefied coal. In a plan so full of details, it makes you wonder about the absence.
And it makes us wonder, who is this Obama? The first president in the making who will put the pioneering spirit of America to work on solving climate change? Quite possibly. But until we know more about about the depth of his coal connections, it's equally fair to assume that President Obama will not go far enough.
