Green Future for America? Yes, We Can!

As you know, Barack Obama was elected as our 44th president yesterday. This is a dramatic change from the past 8 years, as you’re well aware.

Many environmental groups regarded George W. Bush as one of the worst presidents for the environment, and there have even been allegations that the EPA lowered fines to companies who weren’t being eco-friendly. ( When we’re thinking of all the enviro-dangers currently, lowering fines should be the last thing on the government’s agenda. )

In the past, I’ve produced educational enviromental-focused audio conferences for my company, and it was quite a struggle to find ‘news’ for this group. Mainly, because no new regulations were being passed for the environment – due to the government.

While the nation is celebrating the victory of President-elect Obama, numerous environmental groups are celebrating this victory by publishing eco-goals. He mentioned that energy was his first priority during one of the debates, so his New Energy for America Plan (to create 5 million new jobs, etc) should (hopefully) start soon after inauguration.

In addition to Obama’s victory, a few democratic seats were added to both houses of Congress for a well-over a half-blue majority. This should speed up the time it takes to pass eco-friendly laws.

Newsweek published secrets behind the election scene, and Obama summarized the environmental movement quite well when explaining his debate-tension. “So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.”

Obama has the right idea. It’s cliche but it’s true – we all have to work together for change. Every little thing matters towards the collective. Every time you turn off the lights or engine, you’re still making a difference. Obama even made a declaration of turning the white house car parade into a plug-in hybrid fleet within one year!

Obama wasn’t the only winner for the environment yesterday. California voters rejected Proposition 7, which on the surface seemed to promote renewable energy but would have prevented small businesses from developing this technology. If this statutory initiative had been passed, it would have been a lot more difficult to initiate requirements for the smaller guys and could have potentially lead to another energy crisis.

We’ll quickly find out what other environmental changes will occur for the states & America. Overall, I’m psyched for January 20th!

Posted by Julie