Environmental issues are always a difficult topic when evaluating a President’s performance. There are many promises made during a campaign that are used for the purpose of being elected, and then nothing ever comes of it when the official receives office. I would like to examine President Obama’s promises in his campaign and see if he has followed through with everything he assured he would do.
One lofty goal expressed in his campaign was to reduce carbon emissions in the United States by 80% by 2050. According to Obama, this would be done by the implementation of a
market-based cap-and-trade system. That is, the government will set a cap of a certain amount of emissions that will be allowed to enter the atmosphere, and will issue permits to companies via auction or sale. Then the market allows those participants emitting less than their quota to sell their excess permits to emitters needing to buy extra to meet their cap.
Another big issue that was addressed in Barrack Obama’s campaign was to cut funding for nuclear waste to be stored at Yucca Mountain. After spending billions of dollars on mountain, reports have shown that storing waste at Yucca may not be as safe as people have said. Obama offered a short term solution of holding the waste at their original reactors. Obama stated that “all spending on Yucca Mountain should be redirected to other uses, such as improving the safety and security of spent fuel at plant sites around the country and exploring other long-term disposal options.”
Yucca Mountain has also been another point of success for the president. As of February 2, 2010, radioactive waste will be halted once and for all from entering the mountain. A White House spokesman stated, “The administration has determined that Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is not a workable option for a nuclear waste repository and will discontinue its program to construct a repository at the mountain in 2010.” People were worried that Obama would not keep his word because he stalled this issue in his first year in office. Experts say the federal government was hesitant because it would face legal liability for not taking the waste off nuclear power companies’ hands, as required by law.
President Obama has done a good job on executing the promises that he made to the American people regarding the environment. This is not something that we can expect from all presidential candidates, or any elected position. This can be explained by the median voter theory (MVT). Median voter theory can be explained by political parties moving more toward the center of the political spectrum to capture the votes of the moderate thinking American. Political parties abandon their base (hardcore liberals, or conservatives) because they know they will get their vote even if they become more moderate. The ultimate goal of a political party is not passing policy but to get elected.
Once elected, there is a clear agenda for the person in office. They want to pass popular policy in order to be reelected or possibly rise to higher position. Only after that is achieved, is when “GOOD” policy is implemented. This situation is a catch 22 because if an official just passes good policy that is not necessarily popular then he won’t be reelected to see the policy through. But on the other hand, if the official passes popular policy, it eats in to his time to do the things that are important and necessary.
“Good” policy is VERY difficult to achieve in the United States. In this aspect, I do applaud the Obama administration for their work with the environment. It is much more than the previous administration and I do not think environmentalists should be complaining. This is the beginning of a very slow process. Having lofty goals is ultimately unrealistic in the American democracy.
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