"We are not acting as good stewards of God's Earth when our bottom line puts the size of our profits before the future of our planet"

- President Barack Obama, 14 Oct 2007

The United States (U.S.), although a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol¹ has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the Protocol. The U.S. s currently the largest emitter of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are scientifically proven to cause the global phenomenon that we commonly refer to as 'global warming' or 'climate change'.

'Yes, we can' - President Barack Obama seems to be the ray of hope to help revive the U.S. Environmental Policy on climate change and energy efficiency.

'New Energy for America Plan' - President Obama and his government intend to introduce the following changes in their current policies on climate change and energy.

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by Y2050
• Re-engage with the United Nations Framework
• Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and create a Global Energy Forum to focus on global energy and environmental issues
• Eliminate current oil and gas imports from the Middle East and Venezuela by Y2020
• Create millions of new 'green' jobs
• Ensure 10% of electricity in the U.S. comes from renewable sources by Y2012

President Obama on 'green recovery':
"That's going to be my number one priority when I get into office"

President Obama's policies on environment are definitely directed towards achieving sustainable development. However, only time will tell as to how much of these policies would be translated into reality successfully.

By Sruti Lal
Senior Consultant (PSB Academy)

¹The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the UNFCC that is intended to achieve "stabilisation of greenhouse gast concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate change" - http://unfcc.int

This article used materials from the following site:
www.barackobama.com, www.gaurdian.co.uk