The Daily Climate: New Climate Policy Clearing the Skies

by Emily Gertz

Published November 06, 2008 @ 10:25AM PST

A few days ago I noted that with the (then presumed) ascention of Barack Obama to the presidency, global warming would transcend "green" to become a stand-alone major policy issue.  Over at my former blogging haunt Worldchanging.com, Adam Stein agrees and ably backs it up.  He credits a perfect storm of factors for moving climate change beyond the strictures of "narrow special interest group concerns," including Mr. Obama's own intellectual capacity to both see the connections, and embrace the moment: 

Circumstances have delivered up a set of interlinked crises — economic, environmental, and security-related — at just the moment that we’ve elected a person who seems to fully grasp the scope of the problem and the proper shape of the solution.

Obama has often been referred to as the first post-racial politician. When we someday evaluate his tenure, we may come to see him instead as the first post-environmental president, the leader who was able to connect the dots on energy, the economy, and security in way that elevates these issues above narrow interest group concerns and places them at the center of the political agenda.

In Euorpe, the hopes of supporters of clean energy and strong action on global warming are soaring on the election of Sens. Obama and Biden to the White House:

• "Early on Wednesday, Hans-Gert Pöttering, the president of the European Parliament, welcomed the opportunity for a fresh start for transatlantic relations," reports Green Inc., the green business blog of The New York Times, and he highlighted green issues, saying he hoped the two sides now would work “together in effective partnership on many of the global issues facing decision-makers in our both continents, for example climate change."
• Germany is urging the next president to live up to his promises of leadership: "'The world needs a 'new green deal'," Germany's Vice Chancellor said in a speech opening a two-day conference 'Climate Change as a Security Threat.; Steinmeier has warned climate change is a cause of friction and a threat to peace. Germany long has been a leading critic of U.S. President George W. Bush's resistance to cuts in greenhouse gases blamed for global warming." (Reuters)
• Gristmill has compiled some of the global exultation, including this from one European leader: "This is a turning point for the United States. It may also be a turning point for the world. We hope to achieve together an ambitious agenda for globalization: overcoming the financial crisis promoting growth and opportunity for all and fighting climate change..."

The CEOs of IKEA and Levi Strauss & Co., along with other business leaders, are also enthusiastic. According to a press release from "Business for Social Responsibility," 9 out of 10 member companies surveyed expect President Obama to "have a positive impact on advancing the corporate responsibility agenda. 'The incoming Obama Administration can chart a more effective path to long-term economic recovery by embracing sustainability,' said BSR's Cramer."  BSR urges the new White House to move immediately on controlling carbon pollution, investing in clean energy, and bolstering collaboration and innovation across the boundaries of business, government, and civil society.  

[[Does this mean that buying my next IKEA Granemo bookcase will re-stabilize the climate *and* get my books off the floor?  That's change I can believe in.]] 

Want to catch up on what everyone's talking about?  David Biello offers up an effective, brief -- 60 seconds short -- and wonkery-free intro to President-elect Obama's intentions for cutting carbon pollution.  (Scientific American online)