While
President Obama made a big deal out of delaying the northern half of
the Keystone pipeline’s construction, he compensated by signing an
executive order to expedite similar infrastructure projects everywhere
else. (Photo/Matt Wansley via Flickr)
Citing the glaring
gaps between his sometimes encouraging rhetoric and the realities of his
fossil fuel-laden policies, eighteen environmental, environmental
justice, and public health advocacy organizations have written a
pointed letter
(pdf) to President Obama slamming his "all of the above" energy
strategy as a "compromised" approach that "future generations can't
afford."
The coalition behind the letter—which includes the Sierra
Club, Friends of the Earth, NRDC, the Energy Action Coalition and
others—is upset that Obama voices concern about climate change in lofty
speeches and with compelling promises even as he oversees the most
dramatic push in oil and gas extraction in a generation, continuing an
aggressive fossil fuel expansion despite what the climate science is
saying about the urgent need to dramatically cut carbon emissions.
“You can’t have it both ways,” said Sierra Club's executive director Michael Brune in
an interview with the
Washington Post, which received advanced notice of the letter that was sent to the White House on Thursday.
"In the coming months your administration
will be making key decisions regarding fossil fuel development --
including the Keystone XL pipeline, fracking on public lands, and
drilling in the Arctic ocean -- that will either set us on a path to
achieve the clean energy future we all envision or will significantly
exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution."
From the letter:
We believe that continued reliance on an “all of the above” energy
strategy would be fundamentally at odds with your goal of cutting carbon
pollution and would undermine our nation’s capacity to respond to the
threat of climate disruption. With record-high atmospheric carbon
concentrations and the rising threat of extreme heat, drought, wildfires
and super storms, America’s energy policies must reduce our dependence
on fossil fuels, not simply reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
As the
Post reports:
The criticism came on the same day that the fossil-fuel industry and
its congressional allies began separate efforts to challenge the
administration’s environmental policies. That suggests that the White
House will have to marshal additional resources to defend the work it is
already doing to address climate change.
The American Petroleum Institute announced a new advertising and electoral campaign that will promote domestic oil and gas production. At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) asked the Government Accountability Office
to determine whether the Senate can use the Congressional Review Act to
reverse a proposed rule to limit carbon emissions from new power
plants.
Though President Obama has yet to make a final decision on approval
of the contoversial Keystone XL pipeline, the green groups applauded his
previous comments on the project when he said the climate impact of the
tar sands pipeline would be a key aspect of the overall determination.
The groups want to see that standard now applied to all fossil fuel
related projects in the country.
"We believe that a climate impact lens should be applied to all
decisions regarding new fossil fuel development," the letter continues,
urging Obama to replace his focus on coal, gas, oil, and nuclear
development with a new paradigm that champions “carbon-reducing clean
energy” strategies.
In the coming months your administration will be making key decisions
regarding fossil fuel development -- including the Keystone XL
pipeline, fracking on public lands, and drilling in the Arctic ocean --
that will either set us on a path to achieve the clean energy future we
all envision or will significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon
pollution. We urge you to make climate impacts and emission increases
critical considerations in each of these decisions.
______________________________________________
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