During his campaign, Barack Obama spoke of investing in clean energy to create jobs, secure energy independence, and fight global warming - and Americans clearly approved that message.

What does this mean for the agenda of the environmental movement? Now that Americans have elected a strong leader to the White House and strong environmental majorities in the House and Senate, we will be able to work with those majorities to create clean energy solutions in America.

The first big change we expect to see will be in the philosophy and style of government.

Accountability: We can expect much more transparency and accountability in the government process. We can expect more scrutiny of those who would violate the public trust as well as greater enforcement of environmental laws.

Democracy: Under Bush, many rules have been rushed through with little or no regard for public comment. We can expect a sound public policy process.

Restoration of Science: We can expect policy based on scientific evidence that is realistic and achievable. Barack Obama demonstrated throughout his campaign that he understands the gravity of the problems we face, and we can expect him to offer policy solutions.

But beyond the general philosophy, President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress will allow America to move to a clean energy future. We expect to be able to work with them on:

Investing in clean energy to create millions of new jobs. Obama’s own energy plan talks about a minimum of $150 billion over 10 years to invest directly into clean energy to create 5 million new jobs.

Reducing our dependence on oil by making cars go farther on a gallon of gas, increase the use of alternative fuels and innovative transportation technology.

Moving America to renewable energy for electricity and dramatically increasing the efficiency of our buildings and homes.

Finally tackling global climate change by establishing an economy wide cap on carbon emissions and ensuring that carbon permits are auctioned not given away.

By taking actions at home we will be able to provide leadership on the international stage to both work with and be competitive with other nations as we invest in these advanced technologies.

In addition, we will be pushing for action that acknowledges the consequences global warming is already having and the need to protect communities, wildlife and their habitat from drought, intense flooding, wildfires and the other changes we are already experiencing.

Fortunately these goals align with the pledges that Obama and many in the new Congress have campaigned on–and are a smarter way to go with limited federal funding because investing in clean energy will provide Americans with the best return.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized .