Activists beg Obama to step up climate push
By JOHN M. BRODER, Green, The New York Times, July 2, 2010 A coalition of environmental organizations sent President Obama a letter on Friday pleading for him to intervene personally in the stalled Senate negotiations on climate and energy legislation. The groups, which have been largely supportive of the president’s energy policies, expressed concern that time was running out for any action on climate change this year. Only the president’s personal and persistent attention can break the stalemate, they say.
“We strongly urge you to produce a bill, in conjunction with key senators, that responds to the catastrophe in the gulf, cuts oil use, and limits carbon pollution while maintaining current health and other key legal protections,” the environmental leaders state in their letter. “White House leadership is the only path we see to success, just as your direct leadership was critical in the passage of the recovery plan, health care reform, and other administration successes.”
Among the signatories are Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund; Maggie Fox, president of the Alliance for Climate Protection, the group started by former Vice President Al Gore; John Podesta, former White House chief of staff and president of the Center for American Progress; and Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The leaders who signed the letter have been among the most vocal advocates of comprehensive climate and energy legislation and a strong international agreement to limit emissions of climate-altering gases. They have grown increasingly frustrated in recent months with the lack of progress in the Senate and the reluctance of the White House to step forward with a plan of its own.
Most have been reluctant to criticize Mr. Obama but now appear to believe that if they do not push him, the moment will be lost.
In a session with reporters on Thursday, Mr. Krupp praised the president’s public statements on the issue, the deal he brokered to reduce automobile emissions and his efforts to salvage the collapsing international climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
“The president’s been great on this issue,” Mr. Krupp said. But he said the president needed to follow through and prod the Senate to act. “We need him and his staff to directly engage in the politics and the policy to actually produce a bill that can pass the Senate. And if he doesn’t do that, without his leadership, then everything else he has done so far will lead to nothing.”
Here’s a full text of the letter:
“We strongly urge you to produce a bill, in conjunction with key senators, that responds to the catastrophe in the gulf, cuts oil use, and limits carbon pollution while maintaining current health and other key legal protections,” the environmental leaders state in their letter. “White House leadership is the only path we see to success, just as your direct leadership was critical in the passage of the recovery plan, health care reform, and other administration successes.”
Among the signatories are Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund; Maggie Fox, president of the Alliance for Climate Protection, the group started by former Vice President Al Gore; John Podesta, former White House chief of staff and president of the Center for American Progress; and Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The leaders who signed the letter have been among the most vocal advocates of comprehensive climate and energy legislation and a strong international agreement to limit emissions of climate-altering gases. They have grown increasingly frustrated in recent months with the lack of progress in the Senate and the reluctance of the White House to step forward with a plan of its own.
Most have been reluctant to criticize Mr. Obama but now appear to believe that if they do not push him, the moment will be lost.
In a session with reporters on Thursday, Mr. Krupp praised the president’s public statements on the issue, the deal he brokered to reduce automobile emissions and his efforts to salvage the collapsing international climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
“The president’s been great on this issue,” Mr. Krupp said. But he said the president needed to follow through and prod the Senate to act. “We need him and his staff to directly engage in the politics and the policy to actually produce a bill that can pass the Senate. And if he doesn’t do that, without his leadership, then everything else he has done so far will lead to nothing.”
Here’s a full text of the letter:
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
July 2, 2010
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for your forceful and eloquent expression of the absolute necessity for bold action to accelerate America’s transition to clean energy. Time and again you have described to Americans the benefits of clean energy reform. Your administration has taken important actions by making unprecedented investments in clean energy technology, setting more efficient fuel economy standards, and adopting many other measures. Now is the time to take the next essential steps.
Even as Americans see heartbreaking and infuriating images of damage to the Gulf coast, well-funded and powerful special interests have been working furiously to defeat progress and maintain the status quo. They have recruited their allies to help paralyze the Senate’s deliberations over whether and how to reduce oil use and cut global warming pollution, using tactics that have derailed efforts by Presidents for the last 40 years to curtail our ever-growing dependence on oil. A rapidly growing number of our millions of active members are deeply frustrated at the inability of the Senate and your Administration to act in the face of an overwhelming disaster in the Gulf, and the danger to our nation and world.
The Senate needs your help to end this paralysis. With the window of opportunity quickly closing, nothing less than your direct personal involvement, and that of senior administration officials, can secure America’s clean energy future. We strongly urge you to produce a bill, in conjunction with key Senators, that responds to the catastrophe in the Gulf, cuts oil use, and limits carbon pollution while maintaining current health and other key legal protections. We further urge you to work with the Senate to bring that bill to the floor for passage before the August recess. White House leadership is the only path we see to success, just as your direct leadership was critical in the passage of the recovery plan, health care reform, and other administration successes.
Two weeks ago, in an address to the nation from the Oval Office, you laid out the issue in stark terms: “The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. We cannot consign our children to this future… Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny.” We emphatically agree. America’s future prosperity, the health of our environment, our ability to create good quality clean-energy jobs and to meet our international commitments, and our national security rest on the action you take in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Maggie Fox, President and CEO
Alliance for Climate Protection
David Foster, Executive Director
BlueGreen Alliance
John Podesta, President and CEO
Center for American Progress Action Fund
Margie Alt, Executive Director
Environment America
Fred Krupp, President
Environmental Defense Fund
Gene Karpinski, President
League of Conservation Voters
Larry Schweiger, President
National Wildlife Federation
Peter Lehner, Executive Director
Natural Resources Defense Council
Kevin Knobloch, PresidentLink: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/activists-beg-obama-to-step-up-climate-push/
Union of Concerned Scientists
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