Politics, by its very nature provokes controversy, but today things political seem more controversial than ever.  2 wars, high unemployment, a health care bill unpopular with many, bank and corporate bailouts, and a huge and burgeoning deficit, to name a few, have all combined to increase the intensity of political polarization.  However, in this writer’s view the administration’s actions in one area deserve praise from both liberals and conservatives and that is the environment.  Remember, the root of the words ‘conservation’ and ‘conservative’ are the same.

Shortly after President Obama took office, he appointed a remarkable team of experienced and talented environmental professionals all sharing a common ethic: public lands are for the public, wildlife needs wild places, the Clean Air and Water Acts and other consumer protection laws must be rigorously enforced, and paraphrasing the words of President Teddy Roosevelt, private interests must be subordinated to the public good.  Science, not politics, has been their criterion for rule-making.    .

Here are just a few of the actions taken thus far:

• The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing stricter rules for pollutants causing smog (costs to industry may increase but will likely be more than offset by public health cost savings)
• The Interior Department is requiring more rigorous reviews of leases for petroleum on public lands, saying the agency had formerly been a “candy store” for oil and gas companies, and specifically cancelled 77 oil and gas leases in Red Rock Canyon wilderness in Utah
• The proposed largest mountaintop removal coal mining operation in Appalachia was refused a permit, and an environmental review of 79 similar projects was requested before they can be approved
• Created a task force to develop a national strategy to protect and restore ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems
• After years of opposition initiated a complete reversal on a global treaty to cut mercury pollution, and are working a complete an agreement

An environmental issue not without controversy, however, regards climate change.  Notwithstanding an overwhelming consensus of the world’s top scientists that 1) the world is warming, 2) it is happening primarily because of human activities and 3) the consequences could be disastrous (as well as the lack of any peer-reviewed studies to the contrary) there are still skeptics.  Here are a few actions the President has taken:

• Signed an executive order for federal agencies to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, as well as to seek energy efficiency and take other measures to reduce carbon emissions
• Initiated strategic partnerships with China, India and Latin American countries to expand international cooperation on clean energy goals
• Worked with Congress to provide $50 billion for renewable energy investments and improvement in the energy efficiency of homes, cars and workplaces and made available $3.4 billion to modernize the energy grid by improving transmission and reducing the amount of power wasted

The record, although good is not perfect.  There are reasons to question recent decisions to promote nuclear, biofuels, and ‘clean’ coal, but for the most part whatever reasons you have for admiring or opposing President Obama, his environmental leadership should be supported.