In the last few days we read some encouraging news about Obama administration's commitment to environmental issues. First, Obama’s speech about the Climate Action Plan (CAP) to address climate change, then the support to African people and institutions to fight poaching. It looks like the U.S. government is willing to commit more to preserve the planet we live on.
But, is this reality? We went beyond the justified enthusiasm to understand what these environmentally friendly measures entail. In particular, we have focused on CAP.
The Climate Action Plan: pros and cons
After years of Republican denial about climate change (the U.S. never ratified the Kyoto Protocol) and after the first democratic four-year-term below expectations, hearing an American president talking about energy efficiency, doubling renewable energy by 2020, cutting fossil fuel subsidies and imposing of stringent limits on CO2 emissions to coal-fired powerplants, has aroused the enthusiasm of worldwide environmentalists.
However, by reading the CAP we spotted some controversial points that we would like to highlight in order to make a bigger and clearer picture:
These points make us more cautious, also because Obama administration’s commitments do not meet the requirements of the international scientific community. Of course thinking that, with a sort of magic wand, the U.S. can become a paradise for sustainable economy is naive. In any case, these first steps make us hope that the United States will seriously lead the next round of negotiations aimed at drafting a binding treaty able to to give a strong follow up to Kyoto Protocol.