WASHINGTON, DC, February 25, 2009 (ENS) – In his first address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, President Barack Obama earned repeated standing ovations from both Democrats and Republicans. He focused on three issues – clean energy, health care and education – and an overarching fourth issue – economic recovery.

“The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank,” said the President. “We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before.”

President Barack Obama addresses his first joint session of Congress. Behind him are Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. (Photo courtesy The White House)

“Now is the time to act boldly and wisely,” he said, “to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity. Now is the time to jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down.”

Obama expressed his gratitude to the members of Congress who passed the $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which he signed into law on February 17.

“Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs,” Obama reiterated. “More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector – jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.”

Those who receive funds from the recovery stimulus package must account for their expenditures, said Obama, adding, “This time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over.”

Obama met with groups of governors and mayors during the past week and told them that they will be held accountable “for every dollar they spend.”

Vice President Joe Biden, left, and President Barack Obama meet with the nation’s governors at the White House. February 23, 2009. (Photo by Pete Souza courtesy The White House)

He has asked Vice President Joe Biden to lead a “tough, unprecedented oversight effort,” because, he told Congress, “Nobody messes with Joe.”

In addition, as chairman of the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, the President has appointed Earl Devaney, who has served as Inspector General of the Department of the Interior since 1999. In that position, he exposed the Abramoff scandals and a culture of corruption among Bush officials and appointees.

“I have appointed a proven and aggressive Inspector General to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud,” said Obama. “And we have created a new website called recovery.gov so that every American can find out how and where their money is being spent.”

President Obama said he will send his first budget to Congress next week.

“Even as it cuts back on the programs we don’t need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, health care, and education,” he said. “It begins with energy.”

“We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient,” the President said. “We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea.”

“Well I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders – and I know you don’t either,” Obama declared. “It is time for America to lead again.”

Dedicated in May 2008, Iberdrola’s Dillon wind farm in Palm Springs generates power for Southern California Edison customers. (Photo by Iberdrola Renewables courtesy NREL)

“Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years,” he said. “We have also made the largest investment in basic research funding in American history – an investment that will spur not only new discoveries in energy, but breakthroughs in medicine, science, and technology,” he said, referring to the $3 billion in the stimulus bill for the National Science Foundation.

“We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country. And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills,” Obama said.

“But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy,” he said.

“So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. And to support that innovation, we will invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America,” said President Obama.

With Democrats in control of both the House and the Senate, the President is likely to get the kind of climate change legislation he asked for.

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said after the joint session, “President Obama has it exactly right: we must ‘transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change.’ To accomplish those goals, the President has called on us to send him legislation that establishes a market-based cap on carbon emissions. We will work in partnership with the President, and we will answer his call.”

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (Photo courtesy Republican National Committee)

The Republican response to the President’s speech came from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who criticized the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending,” he said. “It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a ‘magnetic levitation’ line from Las Vegas to Disneyland, and $140 million for something called ‘volcano monitoring.’ Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, DC.”

“To strengthen our economy, we need urgent action to keep energy prices down,” Jindal said. “All of us remember what it felt like to pay $4 at the pump – and unless we act now, those prices will return.

“To stop that from happening, we need to increase conservation…increase energy efficiency…increase the use of alternative and renewable fuels…increase our use of nuclear power – and increase drilling for oil and gas here at home,” said Jindal, who governs a state with a current budget surplus due to royalties from oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jindal has announced that he will decline stimulus money targeted at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage, becoming the first governor to officially refuse any part of the federal government’s payout to states.

Many environmentalists were pleased with the President’s speech. Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “In this speech, President Obama presented a bold, ambitious vision to restore America’s economy and move us to a new clean energy future driven by a cap on carbon pollution.

“For the first time in history, a sitting U.S. president called on Congress to pass legislation to limit carbon pollution that will build a sustainable economic recovery by repowering America with clean energy. Investments from a carbon cap can cut our dependence on oil, make us more energy efficient and produce jobs at home,” Beinecke said.

“This represents a new era in America’s approach to energy that will break our reliance on dirty fossil fuels and push us to develop new technologies,” she said. “This is the leadership America needs to transform our energy system, protect our planet and meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2009 (ENS) – Hundreds of thousands of people participated in more than 11,000 service events across the country today to honor President-elect Barack Obama’s request to Americans of all ages to help fellow citizens in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and of his inauguration as the 44th President of the United States.

This morning, Obama participated in the renovation of safe space housing for homeless and runaway or disconnected young people at Sasha Bruce Youthwork, an organization that has met the urgent needs of Washington, DC’s at-risk youth and their families for more than 30 years.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden worked with Habitat for Humanity alongside 50 AmeriCorps volunteers, firefighters, and police officers to help build homes for families in need in northeast Washington, DC.

Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and Ashley Biden participated in the day’s largest service project. At Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, volunteers made more than 85,000 care packages for American servicemen and women stationed around the globe.

Across the country, many people are taking environmental action, planting trees, restoring native plants and removing trash from parks and beaches.

In Exton, Pennsylvania, Diane Peralta says the theme at Exton Elementary School this year is, “No child left inside.” For the day of service, the staff ordered small Arbor Day trees for each classroom that the students can care for. “When the weather gets better we will plant them outside and donate the rest,” said Peralta. “The students will learn about nature in the process! We are bringing the outside inside for the moment.”

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Clean Water Fund is making Tuesday a day of service to protect the environment. Organizer Marta Johnson says, “Help us educate the community on important upcoming environmental issues and grow our voice to ensure we get Michigan back on track with a green economy!”

Members of Earth Team plant native species at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline. (Photo courtesy Earth Team)

In Oakland, California, Save The Bay worked with volunteers from EarthTeam, a local network of students, teachers and youth leaders, and employees from Kaiser Permanente to restore wetlands and pick up trash at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline in Oakland.

Coordinator Darcie Collins said the volunteers are planting native species such as blue wild rye and lavender in the tidal salt marsh. The vegetation provides food and shelter for two endangered species – a bird called the California clapper rail found only in the San Francisco Bay area and the salt marsh harvest mouse, which she says is “no bigger than your thumb.”

Another more ad hoc group brought trash bags to the beach at Long Beach, California and filled them with litter.

Litter is important to Rakesh Baruah, who wants a Litter Free Inauguration on the National Mall on Tuesday for the hundreds of thousands of people who are expected to be there to witness this historic inauguration.

“After President-elect Obama’s speech on election night, volunteers and clean-up crews spent hours picking up the trash left behind by supporters. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen to the National Mall on Inauguration Day, says Baruah. “If you plan on packing on to the mall to celebrate President Obama’s swearing-in on January 20th, please bring a bag to carry any trash you may have with you when you leave. It’s that simple! Help us spread the word about Litter Free Inauguration 2009.”

Days of service are planned from now until the end of January. In Houston, Texas, for instance, volunteers from Keep Houston Beautiful will plant trees along the trail for the visually impaired on January 31.

And above all, people across the country are rejoicing and helping others – with food drives, neighborhood celebrations, pot lucks, inauguration watching parties, and Renew America gatherings – in parks, golf clubs, restaurants and cafes; in homes, churches, schools, theaters, and in community halls – there is celebration.

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WASHINGTON, DC, January 13, 2009 (ENS) – In honor of President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, millions of people are heading to the nation’s capital to celebrate the inauguration set for January 20.

First up, and greenest, the Green Inaugural Ball: Maximum Celebration, Minimal Impact, on Saturday at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium celebrates grassroots efforts to protect and improve the environment. The carbon-neutral event is open to the public. Tickets for the black-tie gala are $500 apiece and five percent of ticket prices will go to nonprofit groups that have partnered with event planner Event Emissary.

President-elect Barack Obama (Photo courtesy Obama Transition Project)

Grammy Award-winning musician and social activist Wyclef Jean will perform. The Haitian-born performer created the nonprofit foundation Yéle Haiti in January 2005, and the charity already has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of poverty-stricken Haitians through its programs of sustainable development.

This Green Inaugural Ball is produced by Event Emissary, Washington, DC’s first green event planning company, which has thought of everything in terms of how it affects the environment.

Event Emissary co-founder Jenna Mack said, ” With millions of visitors headed to Washington for President-elect Obama’s swearing in ceremony and accompanying celebrations, the impact on our environment will be substantial. Our goal is to create an unforgettable evening while treading lightly on the Earth.”

The Green Ball’s power consumption will be minimal and the electricity used to produce the event will be offset by the purchase of renewable energy credits. Decorative lighting and audio-visuals use only the most efficient equipment. Food waste and floral arrangements will be composted.

Vice president-elect Joe Biden (Photo courtesy Obama-Biden campaign)

Guests are encouraged to take public transportation and the venue was selected because it is located half a block from a Metro station. Event Emissary will purchase carbon credits to offset all truck deliveries and staff commutes for the event.

Even the web hosting company handling the Green Inaugural Ball website is green. AISO.net, based in California, uses solar panels to run their green data center and office and their servers use less energy and generate less heat than conventional equipment.

Obama and Biden are invited to attend The Green Ball: Maximum Celebration, Minimal Impact, but there is no guarantee that they will show up.

A second green inaugural ball will be hosted by former Vice President Al Gore on Monday, the night before the inauguration.

The invitation-only affair at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is called “The Green Ball: Inauguration of a New Green Economy.” Ticket prices to the sold-out event were not made public.

More than two dozen ecological and environmental coalitions are mentioned on the invitation, which encourages attendees to “bring together a diverse coalition of environmentally-forward organizations, entrepreneurs, scientists and advocates, celebrating a commitment to growing the New Green Economy.”

Poster created for the Obama inauguration (Poster by Bobbi Miller-Moro)

On Saturday, President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and their families will journey to Washington, DC by train, holding events that are free and open to the public along the way.

Beyonce, Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder are among the performers on stage Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial for the opening celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural. The event will be free and open to the public, kicking off what the Presidential Inaugural Committee calls “the most open and accessible Inauguration in history.”

The concert, “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial,” will be presented by HBO on Sunday, January 18, 7:00-9:00 pm ET/PT. HBO will televise the event on an open signal, working with all of its distributors to allow Americans across the country with access to cable, telcos or satellite television to join in the opening celebration for free.

Musical performers also scheduled for the event include – Mary J. Blige, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, James Taylor, and will.i.am.

Reading historical passages will be Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington.

“We have found that the great artists are eager to take part and each one is working with us to find music that expresses the optimism and hope that people bring to the Obama inauguration,” said Michael Stevens, a producer and writer of the show.

On Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President-elect Obama will call on all Americans to make an ongoing commitment to serve their communities and their country. A new website, USAservice.org, makes it easy for Americans to organize service events or find existing events. To date, nearly 6,000 events have been organized.

Michelle Obama with daughters Sasha and Malia at the 2008 Democratic National Convention (Photo by Marc Piscotty for Congressional Quarterly)

Monday evening, Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and their families will host a free “Kids’ Inaugural” concert to honor military families, broadcast live on the Disney Channel and Radio Disney.

Musical performers for the Kids’ Inaugural event include the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Bow Wow.

On Inauguration Day, Tuesday, January 20, for the first time in history, the entire length of the National Mall will be open to the public for the swearing in ceremony at 10 am on the west front of the U.S. Capitol.

President-elect Obama will take the oath of office, using President Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Bible, administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.

On the evening of Inauguration Day, the first ball that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will attend is the first-ever Neighborhood Inaugural Ball. Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, JAY-Z, Alicia Keys, Shakira and Stevie Wonder are scheduled to perform. Broadcast live on ABC television stations and over the Internet.

The other nine official presidential inaugural balls where President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden are guaranteed to make an appearance are:

Dr. Jill Biden (Photo courtesy Obama-Biden campaign)

Youth Inaugural Ball: for the 18 to 35 crowd. Ticket cost: $75. Venue: Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave. N.W.

Obama Home States Inaugural Ball: for Illinois and Hawaii residents, invitation-only. Ticket cost: $150. Venue: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place N.W.

Biden Home States Inaugural Ball: for Delaware and Pennsylvania residents, invitation only. Ticket cost: $150. Venue: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place N.W.

Eastern Inaugural Ball: for residents of Eastern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, invitation only. Ticket cost: $150. Venue: Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave. N.E.

Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Western inaugural balls: Mid-Atlantic includes invitees from New York to West Virginia; Midwest includes such states as Kansas, North Dakota and Missouri; Western states include California as well as Guam, American Samoa. Ticket cost: $150. Venue: Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Southern Inaugural Ball: for residents of Southern states, invitatio-only. Ticket cost: $150. Venue: National Guard Armory, 2001 E. Capitol St. S.E.

Commander in Chief’s Inaugural Ball: Open to enlisted active-duty and reserve military; ticket cost not released. Venue: National Building Museum, 401 F St. N.W.

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CHICAGO, Illinois, December 10, 2008 (ENS) – President-elect Barack Obama signaled that he is ready to tackle the climate crisis immediately upon taking office, following a meeting Tuesday with former Vice President Al Gore and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

“All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over, the time for denial is over,” Obama said.

The three men met at the Transition’s Chicago headquarters to discuss energy and climate policy – and how addressing those issues can drive the nation’s economic recovery.

“This is a matter of urgency and national security,” Obama said. “It is not only a problem, it is also an opportunity.”

From left, Vice president-elect Joseph Biden,
President-elect Barack Obama, former Vice
President Al Gore at Transition headquarters.
December 9, 2008 (Photo courtesy Obama
Transition Team)

“We have the opportunity now to create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to repower America,” said Obama, “to redesign how we use energy and think about how we are increasing efficiency to make our economy stronger, make us more safe, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make us competitive for decades to come – even as we save the planet.”

Obama’s “repower America” comment Tuesday is an echo of Gore’s plan, made public in July, to Repower America with 100 percent clean electricity within 10 years.

The plan to Repower America outlines immediate investments in three areas: energy efficiency, renewable generation and transmission.
# Energy Efficiency: A national upgrade to eliminate waste, save money, and improve comfort. Make every bit of energy we produce work harder for us.

# Renewable Generation: Accelerate the ramp-up of clean, renewable electricity sources through policies that support increased private and public investment in technologies that work, like wind, solar, and geothermal.

# Unified National Smart Grid: Modernize transmission infrastructure so that clean electricity generated anywhere in America can power homes and businesses across the nation. National electricity ‘interstates’ that move power quickly and cheaply to where it needs to be; local smart grids that buy and sell power from households and support clean plug-in cars.

The president-elect and the former vice president appear to be in accord on the urgent need to address global warming after eight years of denial, delay and neglect during the Bush administration. Obama is taking advice from Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his work to publicize the dangers of global warming through his Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

In November, the We Can Solve It campaign mounted by Gore’s nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection launched an advertising and grassroots effort to support the president-elect as he enacts policies to revitalize the American economy and help solve the climate crisis.

Obama is not waiting until he takes office to go green. His will be the first eco-friendly inaugural celebration in American history.

Event Emissary, a DC-based event planning company, announced today that it will host the Green Ball to kick off the Obama Inaugural on January 17, 2009 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. www.greeninauguralball.com

Co-founder Jenna Mack explains, ” With millions of visitors headed to Washington for President-elect Obama’s swearing in ceremony and accompanying celebrations, the impact on our environment will be substantial. Our goal is to create an unforgettable evening while treading lightly on the Earth.”

Every facet of The Green Ball is designed to reduce the impact on the environment. Catering will be 100 percent organic and include both vegetarian and vegan options. The bars will feature local and organic beverages. Food waste and floral arrangements will be composted and bottles will be recycled.

Decorative lighting will focus on the use of LED Color Blasts that utilize a fraction of the power compared to more traditional lighting sources. Entertainment audio-visual production will be tailored to minimize environmental impact, using only the most efficient lighting and equipment.

“That which cannot be reduced will be offset,” says Mack. “Energy usage will be measured closely and offset through the purchase of wind power credits. Transportation for deliveries to the event, as well as vendor and staff transportation will be offset through the purchase of carbon credits.”

Event Emissary Co-founder Stephanie Campbell said, “While one green event is a step in the right direction, our goal is to bring attention to this issue while the Presidential Inaugural Committee and many other groups are still early in their planning. We hope to set an example to other organizations and encourage them to green their events, as well.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, November 12, 2008 (ENS) – When the leaders of the G20 countries gather in Washington this weekend for a special summit on the global financial crisis, pressure will be on to seek solutions in the growth of a new green economy.

Today in Washington, Gary Gardner and Michael Renner, senior researchers with the environmental research organization Worldwatch Institute, issued a detailed proposal that they hope will focus the attention of the G20 leaders on what they are calling a “Global Green Deal.”

“The challenge for global political leadership, including U.S. President-elect [Barack] Obama, is not merely to kickstart the global economy, but to do so in a way that creates jobs and stabilizes climate, increases food output using less water and pesticides, and generates prosperity with greater equality of incomes,” write Gardner and Renner.

“This broad approach will require a conceptual blueprint evocative of America’s 1930s New Deal, but more audacious in scope and vision,” they write.

Workers installing solar panels are part of the green
economy. (Photo courtesy Environment America)

“This historic moment calls for not merely repairs to our hyper-productive, yet ailing, economy, but for a new approach suited to the realities of a heavily populated and environmentally stressed world – a Global Green Deal that shifts the focus from growth to development, and that is geared less to providing consumerist superfluities than to ensuring that nobody’s true needs go unmet.”

President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden today announced that they will not meet personally with G20 leaders. They have designated former Republican Congressman Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to meet unofficially with delegations at the G-20 summit on their behalf.

Obama Senior Foreign Policy Advisor Denis McDonough said, “This weekend’s summit is an important opportunity to hear from the leaders of many of the world’s largest economies. President [George W.] Bush should be commended for calling the summit. There is one president at a time in the United States, so the president-elect has asked Secretary Albright and Congressman Leach, an experienced and bipartisan team, to be available meet with and listen to our friends and allies on his behalf.”

The G20 is a group of 20 economies – 19 of the world’s largest national economies, plus the European Union. They are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, European Union.

Together, the G20 economies make up 90 percent of global gross national product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. This will be the first G20 meeting at the leaders level since the G20 was established in 1999.

Already underway, the movement towards a green economy is generating businesses in renewable energies, clean tech ventures, sustainable agriculture, conservation and the intelligent management of the planet’s ecosystems and nature-based infrastructure.

The initiative for a New Green Deal was introduced late last month by the United Nations Environment Programme and the British government and the idea has swftly gained support among environment and sustainable business leaders.

British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said, “The green technological revolution needs to gather pace, as more and more of the world’s jobs will in future be in environmental industries. Britain is committed to building a green economy at home and abroad. It will be good for business good for the environment and good for development.”

Accelerating this transition is at the core of the Green Economy initiative and the best bet for global, sustainable wealth and employment generation for 1.3 billion poor people, said Benn. The UK will host the G20 during 2009.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said, “The financial, fuel and food crises of 2008 are in part a result of speculation and a failure of governments to intelligently manage and focus markets.”

“But they are also part of a wider market failure triggering ever deeper and disturbing losses of natural capital and nature-based assets coupled with an over-reliance on finite, often subsidized fossil fuels,” he said.

Cars running on gasoline in a Mexico traffic jam
spew pollutants and greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere. (Photo © Curt
Carnemark courtesy World Bank)

“The flip side of the coin is the enormous economic, social and environmental benefits likely to arise from combating climate change and re-investing in natural infrastructure – benefits ranging from new green jobs in clean tech and clean energy businesses up to ones in sustainable agriculture and conservation-based enterprises,” said Steiner.

Former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Peace Laureate Al Gore agrees. Expressing his opinion in the “New York Times” on November 9, he wrote, “Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis.”

Gore reiterated his five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of U.S. electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years.

The plan begins with “large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.”

It continues with construction of a unified national smart grid to transport the newly generated energy to consumers, help for America’s automobile industry to convert to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity, building retrofits to increase energy efficiency, and a price on carbon emissions.

“The United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world’s efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation,” Gore wrote.

Sustainable forestry reduces climate risk because standing trees absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

There is increasing interest in the purchase of sustainable forest products, says Jonathan Lash, president of the Washington, DC based World Resources Institute, in a new report on sustainable procurement of wood and paper products.

“Corporate managers are taking a close look at what they buy because of consumer preference for sustainable products, competitiveness, production costs and the prestige of having a green brand,” wrote Lash. “We want to help them make smart choices – both for the bottom line and to benefit the environment, particularly in addressing climate change.”

The World Bank Group on Tuesday, called for a “rapid response to the spreading global financial crisis” and said it would substantially increase financial support for developing countries. The Bank will launch or expansion four facilities for the crisis-hit private sector that is critical to employment, recovery and growth.

Ahead of the G20 summit, the World Bank Group said its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development could make new commitments of up to US$100 billion over the next three years.

This year, lending could almost triple to more than US$35 billion compared to US$13.5 billion last year. This increase in financial support will protect the poorest and most vulnerable from harm, support countries facing big budget short-falls, and help sustain long-term investments upon which recovery and long-term development will depend.

World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick
(Photo courtesy World Bank)

“Leaders meeting on Saturday to discuss the global financial crisis must not lose sight of the human crisis. As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable who are the hardest hit,” said World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. Trade Representative.

“The response to this crisis must be global, coordinated, flexible and fast,” Zoellick said. “While the challenges need to be addressed at the country level, it is more critical than ever that the international community acts in a coordinated and supportive way to make each country’s task easier.”

Current estimates suggest that a one percent decline in developing country growth rates pushes an additional 20 million people into poverty. Already, 100 million people have been driven into poverty as a result of high food and fuel prices.

“The global financial crisis, coming so soon after the food and fuel crises, is likely to hurt the poor most in developing countries,” said Zoellick. “Working with the IMF, UN agencies, regional development banks and others, the World Bank Group is helping both governments and the private sector through lending, equity investments, innovative new tools, and safety net programs.”

The World Bank expects high income country economies to contract by 0.1 percent next year while the world economy is expected to advance by just one percent.

In Geneva on December 1, the UN Environment Programme is convening policymakers, business executives, analysts, representatives from nongovernmental and civil society organizations, and media to launch the Green Economy initiative. The objective is recognize the contributions of environmental investments to economic growth, decent jobs creation, and poverty reduction, and reflect this recognition in their policy responses to the prevailing economic crisis and beyond.

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We thought about adding John McCain to the Winners list, as his loss on Tuesday assured that he won’t have the unenviable task of fixing the colossal clusterf@&% left behind by the Bush administration. But then we’d have to add Barack Obama to the Losers list (congratulations bub, it’s your problem now), and that just doesn’t seem right, because if anyone deserves to be at the top of the Winners list, it’s……:

Barack Obama

MT: Whatever Barack Obama has for breakfast, that’s what you should be ordering. Because whatever it is, it tastes like WIN. Who got the right position on Iraq – don’t go –from the very start, without which there is no room for a Democrat to run and beat Hillary Clinton? WIN. Who intuitively knew what message Americans were looking for and had the intellectual and charismatic talents to deliver it? WIN. Who showed his critics what community organizer can do with a few million passionate campaign workers? WIN. Who made a series of one smart decision after another in a campaign that will be studied for years to come? WIN. Who overcame racial and ideological barriers to chart a career that almost looks like a 90* angle? Barack Hussein Obama, that’s who. And what did he do when his opponents said “Obama cannot win?” WIN.

JW: Few people, if any, in the world have ever made so many billions of people happy. It’s that simple. This is the kind of feat that has traditionally been reserved for people like the Dali Lama, Pele or Oprah. But now the person who should have the popular support of the world will: the president of the United States. Obama has also appeared to have weathered one of the most brutal campaign cycles of all time. His family is still intact, his daughters aren’t knocked up and he still talks to Joe Biden. Barack Obama may have been the best presidential candidate in my lifetime, but the McCain camp certainly did set a low bar.

MT: Adding:

The World

JW: This is what the world looked like upon hearing that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States of America, the streets of the world looked something like a combination of The World Cup (in which every country has won) and New Years Eve (if it occurred only once in a lifetime), except that it actually mattered. Barack Obama’s personal background is the most international of any president of the United States. His ability to break down racial, cultural and political barriers make him not only a citizen of the United States, but also of the world.

MT: Relax, world. Like the man said, he’s got this. “Americans can always be relied upon to do the right thing”, said Winston Churchill, “but only after they have exhausted every other alternative.” Maybe so, but just when the global community thinks we’ve lost our mojo, when our critics and friends alike think we’re incapable of achieving the seemingly impossible, when the limit of our potential appears to have been reached, we find something more. Yes we can.

Democrats

MT: By the mid-90’s, complacency and a lost sense of purpose had relegated the once dominant Democratic Party to a congressional minority. Why should voters go for Republican Lite when they could have the real thing? Democrats responded to Republican bait, and talked about issues in Republican frames. They worried more that Republicans would call them names than how best to serve the country. More than anything, they forgot they were Democrats. And while it took the unmitigated failure of the Bush administration to remind them, they found their voice and realized a clear contrast with Republicans based on big-D Democratic principles was a winner with voters. The call for “more and better Democrats” was answered. And people responded. Allow me to demonstrate:

With the exception of Appalachia, Arkansas, Oklahoma and some scattered areas of the deep South, America is voting more Democratic. So congratulations, Donks. Don’t forget how you got here.

JW: Well, Dems, you finally pulled it together. You got technology, many Republicans the world on your side, and harnessed these special ingredients for a well-deserved win. While the Republican Primary stand-off became a choice between the lesser of the evils, your lot of choices—at least two of them—were top-notch. While the Republican National Convention looked and sounded like a hood-less KKK board meeting inside a small-town bank, your convention made the light show at Disneyland look anti-climactic. You won over people from the Republic Party the Independent Party and the Green Party. If you were on a high school football team, you would get the award for the “Most Improved Player.”

Howard Dean

MT: When Gov. Howard Dean was in the middle of the 2004 campaign rant that would forever be known as the “Dean Scream,” he was describing what would later be termed the “50-state strategy.” Just prior to the “Yeeeeaaarrrrghhh!!!”, he was running down a list of traditionally red states that he thought Democrats should be competitive in, and that would be the key to putting a Dem in the White House. People laughed, “Oh, that nutty Howard Dean! Spreading out money in resources where Republicans are stronger and more likely to say mean things to us. Hahahahaha! That’ll never work!” Dean didn’t secure the 2004 nomination, but his 50-state strategy and mastery of new online fundraising and organizing tools was the blueprint that Barack Obama followed, and it paid off big time. He who screams first, laughs last.

JW: If any single person paved the way for Obama’s win on Tuesday, it was Howard Dean. His grassroots organizing, appeal to the youth and ability to energize the base was unprecedented in the early days of the DNC primary campaign season. Obama ceased on this unfulfilled potential, which had grown after nearly four more years of Bush. Dean also has demonstrated strong leadership as the DNC Chair and has helped lead the party to where it is today.

Obama Supporters

MT: Speaking of what Obama has for breakfast, these people were hungry. From the phone banking to the fundraising, from spreading the message on message boards and blogs to knocking on doors in an unprecedented ground game, those people who got out and hustled to make Tuesday happen deserve a clap on the back. The last few years have been bleak, with America’s moral and financial credibility on the brink of the abyss. It’s easy in this culture to be uninvolved, distracted, and before you know it, we’re over the edge. More than just those who voted, the people who put Barack Obama on their collective backs and dragged him to the dance in the first place did us all a great favor. Cheers, mates.

JW: Never before had I personally known so many people who were so active in this campaign. To support the presidential candidate in the case of Obama had gone from something passive to an active way of life. “Supporting” went from meaning “voting for” or “putting a yard sign in front of my house” to “phone banking, driving to swing states, canvassing, donating my much-needed and hard-earned dollars to the campaign,” “throwing fundraisers,’ “Facebooking,” and “declaring far and wide that Obama was the best choice.” As a reward, not only do Obama supporters get to see their choice in the White House come January, but they have the satisfaction of knowing they personally and directly help put him there.

America

MT: Aside from the relief of having an adult in charge that doesn’t look at actual governing like the continuation of one long political campaign, America can now start to heal itself from eight years of mis-rule. The importance of having an actual Constitutional scholar in charge of defending the Constitution cannot be understated. The effect of Obama’s election will have a profound impact on the American psyche, all of it good. America can take pride in showing to the world, once again, what it’s like to truly lead. It’s cool to be an American again.

JW: The American people have finally taken steps to reclaiming their country with the election of Obama. Of course there were several set-backs in this election, including the ban of gay marriage in three states, but overall, America has come out of the 2008 as a champion. With a high voter turnout, more people now have their say in the policies and people who lead this country, and more people can sleep better at night knowing that the president-to-be represent more of them.

Dogs

JW: As if the Obama girls’ choice of a puppy over a kitten didn’t generate enough publicity for dogs after Obama’s speech, the media worldwide has been going nuts with turning Obama’s puppy statement into a story [news.google.com].

MT: I always had a soft spot for Barney, ever since President Klutz dropped him on the tarmac after getting off Air Force One once, but biting a Reuters reporter covering his daily walk for a fluff story? [wonkette.com] That’s just awesome. I’ll bet Bush wishes he could do that.

Nate Silver

JW: This guy. His projections were more accurate than any single pollster’s in the election. His path to successful political forecasting began as a baseball statistician working for a think tank in Chicago. He began applying the same strategies to the political polls on his website, fivethirtyeight.com [fivethirtyeight.com] and ended up predicting the final breakdown of electoral and popular votes one-tenth of a point off from what actually occurred.

MT: Seriously, this guy is scary accurate. What he did was the polling equivalent of hitting a three point shot from a passing airplane. John Zogby is eating his dust right now. 538 is now going to be the go-to source for the next few election cycles. Congrats.

Katie Couric

JW: Despite Sarah Palin’s $150,000 plus clothing budget, CBS Evening News anchor, Katie Couric showed the world that the empress, indeed, has no clothes. In her series of interviews [www.cbsnews.com] she let Palin speak for herself and expose her true ineptness and ignorance in a way that no strategist, aid or national presidential campaign could cover up. Even when it came time for the variety shows to parody these interviews, they drew directly from the Couric/Palin script [www.huffingtonpost.com].

MT: If there’s a “Showed Most Improvement” award for the national media, Katie Couric won it hands down. I’ve never been much of a fan of Katie’s brand of Journalism Lite, but, perhaps awareness of her reputation as a media lightweight and sense that she wasn’t going to out-perk Sarah Palin, Katie stepped up her game and actually took it to the Thrilla from Wasilla. Watching her press Palin to name McCain’s reform accomplishments until she essentially cried “uncle!” was a classic campaign moment and a feather in Couric’s cap.

Hawaii

JW: The union’s 50th state will never again be thought of merely for its exotic vacation destinations and production of sugar. We now will think of it as home to many, including white people from Kansas! Hawaii also showed us where its heart is by giving the highest share of its votes [www.cqpolitics.com] to Obama. Just don’t expect Obama to exploit grass skirts and leis the way Connecticut native George W. Bush popularized cowboy boots and belt buckles, Obama is the real deal.

MT: Hawaii. Not just for elitists anymore [www.huffingtonpost.com] Shaka bra.

Jamie Wong and Michael Turner

To our readers and those who have followed BACK TALK this last month or so, the pleasure was all ours. Thanks for your comments, thank you for voting and thanks for being so damned good-looking. You know you are. And thanks to the Sundance Channel for giving us the opportunity to riff on this special moment in American history. It was fun. Be sure to check out the fine programming on the Sundance Channel now that you’re not glued to the nightly news for campaign updates. And if you don’t have the Sundance Channel, call your local cable carrier. You’ll be glad you did. [/shameless plug]

Peace out.

– Jamie Wong & Michael Turner

A popular right-wing complaint about Barack Obama is that the Democratic frontrunner is in a protective bubble, insulated from the press. This bit of Bushian – or Palinesque, if you prefer – projection is demonstrably false; Obama has given dozens of high-profile interviews and hundreds of local ones, as has Joe Biden. But that’s not what the complaint is about. By seducing the press with a silver tongue, a shimmy in his hips and a twinkle in his eye, the presumptuous “celebrity” politician avoids the “hard questions” that people suffering from repeated exposure to FOX News and talk-radio find relevant. Or coherent. Even Bill O’Reilly fell under the spell of the Anointed One, failing to probe him with the kind of searing questions that would reveal, once and for all, the deviousness of this Black Muslim Communist Atheist Fascist, etc, etc.

And so it was a blessing unto the True Believers that one of their own was finally able to confront……well, not Obama himself, but Joe Biden. But Orlando’s own Barbara West of WFTV wasn’t going to let that stop her from asking the “hard questions” that other “journalists” were to too “scared” or “sane” to ask. Tricked into thinking he’ll be interviewed by someone from this planet, Biden is unsuspecting prey to West’s journamalism. Let’s watch [www.wftv.com]:

WEST: You may recognize this famous quote. From each according to his abilities to each according to his needs. That’s from Karl Marx. How is Sen. Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?

WEST: It’s a real question.

West is correct. It is a question. It’s an interrogative sentence with a clear subject and verb. Technically, it is a real question. It’s not a smart question, or one that anyone who knew anything about Marxism or Obama’s economic policy would ask, but a question nonetheless. West then hit Biden with a favorite wingnut tactic – the false assumption straw man with the non sequitur dismount:

WEST: Now you recently said “Mark my words. It won’t be six months before the world tests Barack Obama.” But what worries many people is your caveat asking them to stand with him because it won’t be apparent that he got it right. Are you forewarning the American people that something might not get done and that America’s days as the world’s leader might be over?

BIDEN: No, I’m not at all. I don’t know who’s writing your questions but let me make it clear to you. The fact of the matter is that everyone with knowledge, from Colin Powell on down, the next president, whether it’s John McCain or Barack Obama. The reason is our weakened position in the world. We’re stretched thin throughout the world. Our economy is in freefall right now. And they’re gonna be tested. And the point I was making is that Barack Obama is better prepared to handle any crisis than John McCain…

The reason that the national media hasn’t picked up West’s unique line of questioning is because they’re stupid questions and they want to keep their jobs. Having your peers laugh openly at you for a display of idiocy that makes Jonah Goldberg look witty is no recipe for professional longevity, much less respect. And it’s not like she hadn’t already heard the answers she was looking for, having asked John McCain pretty much the same things [www.wftv.com].

But West’s biggest crime is a wasted opportunity. If she had the chance to corner Joe Biden in a verbal gaffe, which is like shooting large, sleepy fish in a very, very small barrel, there were so many other “hard questions” she could have asked that would get him spluttering in disbelief and get a bigger rise out of the base at the same time. For example:

– “Random people on the internet are not satisfied with Obama producing his Certificate of Live Birth. So which is he, Kenyan or Indonesian?”

– “When Obama legalizes abortion in the 6th trimester, will he be performing the baby-murders himself, or will he use a surrogate?”

– “Obama claims he was only eight years old when Bill Ayers blew up Washington, DC, but reliable accounts put a small black child in the DC area at the time of the bombings. How does Obama account for this huge discrepancy in his alibi?”

– “If Obama could go back in time and kill one person, either Adolph Hitler or Osama bin Laden, which one would he choose? If it’s bin Laden, why does Obama hate Jews? And if it’s Hitler, why does he hate America?”

There are all things Barbara West could have asked, if only she had put her country first and asked the really hard questions, instead of playing pat-a-cake with Biden like a media lapdog, ceding her responsibility as a journalist to parrot the Obamessiah’s propaganda.

Why does Barbara West hate America?

– Michael Turner

I didn’t mean for it to get out of hand like this. It started as a joke, with Sarah Palin citing a New York Times article as proof of an Obama-Ayers connection when the article reached the opposite conclusion. Then, when she claimed to be a regular reader of The Economist, I thought it would be funny to follow up by noting how little The Economist’s economists thought of McCain’s policies. Then, with her willful ignorance on the Troopergate Report, I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but……Now this, it……I just don’t know…… [thinkprogress.org]

Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”

PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.

…………………(choke)……Excuse me, please, for a moment, I have to……

(Runs from room. Sound of a door slamming. Quiet sobbing. Strains of instrumental version of “Send in the Clowns” can be heard.)

OK. Sorry about that. I’m better now. Where was I?

Oh…yes. That.

What in the blue hell is Palin talking about??? I know she was addressing a question from a third grader, but that’s no reason to just start making stuff up. Never mind that Palin herself famously asked that very same question; apparently no one’s gotten around to telling her the correct answer. When she made the assertion in her debate with Joe Biden that “the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate,” you would think that someone in the McCain campaign would have set her straight and told her to keep that kind of patently incorrect talk to herself, at least until after the election. Palin’s response would get an ‘F’ on any high school civics paper.

So let’s set the record straight. Article 1, Section 3 of the United States Constitution states:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

Other than to certify the official vote count of the U.S. Electoral College and to assume the duties of the president should he be unable to fulfill them, that’s it. The single legislative duty the Vice President has is to cast a vote in the Senate only in the event of a tie. The Vice President is not “in charge” of the Senate. They cannot “get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes,” whether they want to or not. Suggesting that a member of the Executive Branch – or better yet, Dick Cheney’s famous “fourth branch” – is “in charge” of the Legislative Branch contradicts the very concept of separate but equal branches of government. Checks and balances. I would assume Palin’s heard of them, but I’m done assuming anything about her anymore. Until she starts exhibiting the most basic familiarities with way the United States government operates under the Constitution, I’m going to treat her as the sort of person for whom toothpick instructions were created.

The one major job description of the role of the Vice President, and Palin doesn’t understand it. Or if she does, she’s lying, but either way, she’s frighteningly wrong.

– Michael Turner

Sometimes it’s hard to be a cynic.

For years we’ve watched Democrats roll over for their GOP Daddies, cowed into jumping through Republican hoops and frames, either unable or unwilling to go out, grab the populace by the shirt and say, “Follow me!” This lack of spine and, more importantly, ability to be proactive has kept Democratic support uninspired and, therefore, manageable by the GOP. Democrats insist on playing by Republican rules, tempering their actions based on what mean things might be said about them on the teevee. After a while, one gets comfortable with Democratic impotence, like an old pair of slippers that you don’t particularly like, but at least they’re broken in. Democrats are expected to run a certain kind of campaign in certain states and to appeal only to certain types of people. Thinking outside the box might get them accused of being “socialist” or “anti-American,” so more often than not, Democrats come across as Republican Lite, despite evidence that the country is further to the left than Congress on most issues. That Democrats suck less than Republicans is the only thing that keeps them in business. But they do suck, and we’ve gotten used to that.

So, just when my inner cynic starts to raise a ruckus about the potential for Dems to still come up short in a year the Republican brand is as popular colon cancer, Barack Obama goes and breaks a couple of records that make even my jaded jaw scrape the carpet. Like raising $150 million in September [thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com].

To echo Joe Biden, let me repeat that: $150,000,000. One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars. Ciento y cincuenta millones de dolares. Take the largest monthly fundraising total Obama has had to date – $66 million in August – then double it. Then add several million more. McCain is, naturally, suggesting there’s some scandal afoot, or could be, with all that money coming in. Not that his argument makes any sense. Given McCain’s own gaming of the system he helped create, asking Obama to remain in public financing was like asking him to fight with one hand tied behind his back. With the multitudes of small donors outweighing the large money bundlers, Obama is running the kind of fundraising operation that campaign finance reform was meant to encourage. He’s less beholden to a smaller number of big donors – and therefore less likely to have to do any favors for contributions – because he’s got gobs of cash rolling in from huge numbers of small donors. A corporation or PAC dangling a big check can’t expect a pro quo from someone who can get the quid from hundreds of thousands of individuals.

Speaking of which, there’s that other personal best Obama outdid this weekend when he had a few friends get together in St. Louis, MO.

Police put the crowd estimate at 100,000 people listening to Obama speak on Saturday from under the Gateway Arch on the banks of the Mississippi, in the shadow of the courthouse where, in 1857, Dred Scott was told a black man had no rights. A more intimate gathering in Kansas City later that evening had 75,000 people.

No one has to tell me it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. I don’t need to be reminded about Republican efforts to purge millions of people from voter rolls, or the backlash of generational racism, or the desperation of the McCain campaign’s tactics going into the last two weeks. Republicans are on the hunt, and they may well capture their prey.

But $150,000,000? 100,000 people?

Like Sheriff Brody told Cap’n Quint, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

– Michael Turner

The middle class is rapidly disappearing. Not literally, of course. It’s still here, although struggling to avoid being forcibly re-categorized into “lower class” status, but from listening to the McCain campaign, the middle class is being phased out like tailfins and chrome on a Caddy.

Time was when John McCain wasn’t afraid to mention the “MC” phrase. [query.nytimes.com] Whether he ever would have made good on his promises in 2000, at least McCain acknowledged there was a middle class. Eight years later, in his first two debates with Barack Obama, McCain doesn’t even mention the words “middle class.” Not once. In her debate with Joe Biden, Sarah Palin mentioned the middle class precisely one time, but only in reference to herself and husband Todd, not the American middle class that McCain’s economic policies would affect. Their reluctance is understandable considering McCain had previously pegged people making just under $5,000,000 as “middle class.” If there’s an Overton window for financial status, McCain set it up on greased rails and attached an ACME Rocket Sled.

This weekend, in an attempt to “reboot” his floundering campaign, Team Maverick hit upon a new economic plan “aimed directly at the middle class” that was sure to turn things around. The big idea? Tax cuts for capital gains and dividends. [www.politico.com] Eureka! That will be of great comfort to those people who receive capital gains and dividends, an overwhelming majority of which are not in any way, shape or form part of the middle class. One wonders if McCain, having spent too much time in his 9 or 10 houses, has any idea what the middle class is.

John McCain has one debate left to address millions of Americans at the same time. Presumably, many of those millions will be members of the middle class. Will John McCain forget about them a third time?

– Michael Turner