President Barack Obama’s first year in office has been a good news/bad news story for the environment, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. On endangered species, he revoked some damaging Bush-era policies but also stripped protection from gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes. On climate, he followed the Supreme Court’s lead and declared carbon dioxide a threat to human health and welfare, but provided virtually no leadership in congressional and Copenhagen negotiations to develop a real solution to global warming. In our oceans, he took initial steps to address ocean acidification, but also increased the number of endangered sea turtles that can be caught and killed by industrial longline fisheries.
Overall, the Center for Biological Diversity gives the president’s environmental record so far a “C.” Take a look at Obama’s first-year report card and share it with other people who care about wildlife. You can also read the Center’s press release for more details.
Obama’s record, while much better than Bush’s, is disappointing so far. He has not lived up to his campaign promises by a long shot. Luckily, there’s still time to get him back on track: We have to show him America cares.
So the Center will be keeping up the pressure with scientific studies, legal action, grassroots organizing, and media work — and I’m counting on your help this year to get the word out to your networks, make calls to decision-makers, and send emails on breaking endangered-species issues.
Here’s to a better year in 2010 and great improvements in how Obama protects endangered species, wild places, and our degrading climate.
