Congratulations Barack Obama, and thank you America for choosing a
candidate that recognizes the dire implications of global warming and
promises the inspiration and clarity of vision to put the country on a
course for a more sustainable future.
As he has done throughout
the seemingly endless campaign, Barack Obama said it best during his
acceptance speech in Chicago last night: "For even as we celebrate
tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the
greatest of our lifetime–two wars, a planet in peril, the worst
financial crisis in a century."
It is yet to be seen how
effective President-elect Obama will be in leading the nation and the
world to address climate change and other serious environmental and
social issues in this time of economic recession, but at
SustainableBusiness.com, we feel great hope–an emotion that has been
lying fallow for too long.
But we must remain vigilant over the coming weeks, as the Bush Administration has begun to change as many regulations as possible to favor big business before leaving Washington.
And
at the time of this writing, we do not yet know what the makeup of the
Senate will be during Obama’s first years in office. Democrats have
widened their majority by atleast five seats, but the remaining four
seats, which would give them a filibuster-proof majority of sixty, have
yet to be determined.
Senate Republicans have time-and-time
again blocked environmental and energy measures over the last two years
with the threat of filibuster.
Unfortunately, it appears that
the Democrats may fall one or two seats short of the 60 needed.
However, the latest reports suggest incumbent Georgia Senator Saxby
Chambliss may not have achieved the 50% needed to win outright. If that
is the case, he will face a runoff in four weeks, and Democrats will
undoubtedly flood the state in an effort to pick up that important
seat.
Regardless, we begin to look forward to the next steps, in
the hope that Obama will choose to attend international climage change
talks next month in Poland to demonstrate the country’s willingness to take the lead on this ever-important front.
We
join the call for the quick passage of a cap on all major sources of
global warming pollution and rewards for businesses that cut pollution
and waste.
Likewise, we will begin to focus on the important
roles to be filled in Obama’s administration. And to that end, you can
follow the link below to a an article in Grist that looks at
the frontrunners for the positions of Secretary of Energy, EPA
Administrator, Secretary of the Interior and other key roles.
Loading...