A couple of days ago I translated an article here on Obama's policies on climate change from Huffington Post which had claimed that what he is doing now is even worse comparing to Bush policies. There, I mentioned that one of his problems which may lead to a weak action is the U.S. Senate as he should make his deal mild enough to be able to gather some votes from Republicans.
It seems that he has read my article
and here is the update on this:
Obama promises to throw full weight behind climate bill (Source: BusinessGreen.com)
President Barack Obama yesterday vowed to intervene personally to secure the Senate votes needed to pass US climate change legislation this year in a speech that attempted to harness the environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico to make the case for a low carbon economy.
Speaking to an audience of 300 academics and business leaders at Carnegie Mellon University, Obama said he would do everything in his power to secure the passage of the American Power Act unveiled last month by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, despite predictions the bill will struggle to win the Republican support necessary to secure 60 votes on the Senate floor.
"If we refuse to take into account the full cost of our fossil fuel addiction - if we don't factor in the environmental costs and national security costs and true economic costs - we will have missed our best chance to seize a clean energy future," he said. "The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months… we will get this done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century."
The move follows several months during which environmental groups have expressed frustration at the White House's apparent reluctance to throw the same level of support behind climate change legislation as it provided as a part of the historic effort to pass healthcare reforms.
What was also interesting for me is this section of his speech that I copy from (Source: Boston.com)
“Without a major change in our energy policy, our dependence on oil means that we will continue to send billions of dollars of our hard-earned wealth to other countries every month — including countries in dangerous and unstable regions,’’ Obama said. “In other words, our continued dependence on fossil fuels will jeopardize our national security. It will smother our planet. And it will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk.’’ ... “The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future,’’ the president said.
چند روز قبل مقاله ای را از هافینگتون پست لینک کردم که در آن سیاست های اوباما در قبال موضوع تغییر اقلیم نقد شده بود و حتی وی به پیگیری سیاستی بدتر از بوش محکوم گردیده بود. آنجا نوشتم که یکی از مشکلات اوباما سر و کله زدن با مجلس سنای آمریکا است. اوباما که این روزها با بحران نشت نفت در خلیج مکزیک دست و پنجه نرم می کند و به طور جدی مورد انتقاد قرار گرفته است اخیرا در این زمینه سخنرانی کرده است و موضوعات نفت و اقلیم را هم مورد اشاره قرار داده. اول برویم سراغ دومی. وی در زمینه ی بحث اقلیم بیان داشته که با وجود آنکه در حال حاضر رای مورد نیاز را ندارد اما در ماه های آینده در پی آن خواهد بود. دومین نکته ی قابل توجه بخشی است که از بوستون لینک کردم که در زیر ترجمه می کنم:
بدون یک تغییر اساسی در سیاست انرژی امان، وابستگی ما به نفت به این معنا است که ما هر ماه میلیاردها دلار از ثروت سخت به کف آورده امان را به سایر کشورها می فرستیم. کشورهایی که بعضا در مناطق خطرناک یا بی ثبات قرار دارند. به بیان دیگر، تداوم وابستگی ما به سوخت های فسیلی امنیت ملی ما را به مخاطره می اندازد. جهان را نابود می کند و اقتصاد و محیط زیست ما را در مقابل ریسک قرار می دهد. برای ملت ما زمان آن فرا رسیده است که یک بار و برای همیشه با تمام وجود به استقبال آینده ای بر اساس انرژی های پاک برود.