Greens to President Obama: Act now on climate Greens to President Obama: Act now on climate
By ERICA MARTINSON | 1/15/13 4:37 AM EST
Green groups are amping up the pressure on President Barack Obama to make good on his promises to address climate change — even if Congress fails to act.
By refocusing their efforts on the White House, environmentalists are bypassing the all-but-paralyzed legislative branch, appealing to Obama’s desire for a legacy and operating in an arena where they have already logged more than a few legal victories.
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They’re also reminding Obama that he won reelection with help from young people, Hispanics and other voters who said they support addressing the climate, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune told reporters Monday after the group released a broad appeal for action in the president’s second term.
“We’re calling on the president to use his executive authority,” Brune said, adding that “we’re here to both support him and challenge him.”
In a roundup of its requests, the Sierra Club said the cause could not be more urgent: “The science is real, the damage to our planet and our economy is real and — particularly after a year of extreme weather including droughts, wildfires and Hurricane Sandy — the effects on American families and their pocketbooks are very, very real.”
The group is demanding a wide variety of efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, including:
• EPA regulations on fossil fuels, from emissions limits for power generation to tighter standards for gasoline.
• Tighter limits on imports and exports of fossil fuels.
• A renewed focus on financing and investing in clean energy.
• “National climate resilience plans” for the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency to help local communities factor climate change impacts into their planning.
• Limits on drilling for fossil fuels on federal lands and protection of old-growth national forests that store carbon.
The Sierra Club has plenty of company. Seventy national and regional green groups recently asked Obama to elevate the discussion of climate change and to “connect the dots” for the public between climate change and extreme weather.
The Clean Air Task Force last week asked the administration to focus the
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