It may seem as though it was months ago that the 2012 presidential election ended. Let’s be honest, the entire campaign was so painful for some that they’d like to banish it from their minds as quickly as possible. But the fact is that the election just ended, and four more years of President Obama means that we have some idea of what we can expect in terms of green energy and climate change policy. But is the picture as rosy as it may seem? Let’s take a quick look at a few realities.

Reality Number One: Obama Was the Better Choice for Environmental Concerns

If clean energy, climate change or environmental policy was your single-issue voting concern, then it’s true that your choice was clear. Why is that? Because to care about environmental policy, you have to begin by admitting that climate change is in fact happening. Unfortunately, only one political party has embraced climate change as a reality and attempted to craft policy around it. We’re going to avoid going so far as to say that the Republican party has decided to not believe in science, but the truth is that their statements on climate change just aren’t backed up by facts. So, yes, it’s unquestionable that for people who care about environmental policy and issues, Obama was the better choice.

Reality Number Two: Obama Hasn’t Been a Great Environmental President

That said, if you’re basing environmental policy on the last four years, don’t get too optimistic. President Obama’s track record isn’t that good. You, like us, heard President Obama make elaborate promises about cutting coal subsidies and growing green energy in just about every State of the Union address that he gave, including the video clip below. But here are a few facts to keep in mind:

–       Under the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was essentially stripped of all of its power and neutered in its ability to fight pollution

–       President Obama didn’t even attend the 2012 follow-up meeting to the Kyoto protocol, largely because of political climate.

–       While President Obama has pledged to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, at present, construction of it continues largely unabated. Many prominent scientists have pegged this pipeline as the most important environmental battleground of the decade.

 

So, while Obama has tried hard on environmental policy, he’s largely fallen short of delivering it.

Are the Republicans to Blame for Obama’s Environmental Shortcomings?

It is undeniably true that many of Obama’s environmental initiatives and their failures were substantially due to Republican opposition. However, one has to wonder if the degree of failure can be entirely laid at the opposition party’s feet. In the meantime, what we do know is that, based on the last four years, the next four years may also be an underwhelming time for green and environmental policy.

What do you think? Sound off on environmental politics. Comment below or share it with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

 

 

 

Photo via Flickr Creative Commons: whiteafrican