The State of the Union: What to Watch For

President Obama will deliver the State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, January 25. The speech will provide important indications about the President’s priorities for the next year, and should signal to environmentalists the extent to which he plans to stand up to corporate polluter lobbyists and support a pro-environment agenda.

Here’s Friends of the Earth’s view of what the President should say about energy and the environment, and what he shouldn’t say.

What President Obama SHOULD DO in his speech:

1) Comprometerse a proteger la Ley de Aire Limpio y vetar cualquier retroceso.

The Clean Air Act is a landmark law that has cut air pollution, reduced asthma and lung disease, and saved lives. In 2007, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Clean Air Act’s protections apply to the pollution that is causing climate change, and as a result the Environmental Protection Agency has begun implementing the Clean Air Act with modest measures to reduce climate pollution. Unfortunately, corporate special interests that would rather be able to pollute freely, with no constraints, are now backing legislative attempts to roll back the Clean Air Act’s protections. Such rollbacks would be disastrous. President Obama should make it clear he will use all of the tools at his disposal to stop them.

2) Volver a dedicarse a reducir los subsidios a los combustibles fósiles.

Fossil fuels are inherently dirty, but unfortunately, while fossil fuel industries like Big Oil and King Coal have multibillion dollar profits, Congress continues to award them massive subsidies. President Obama has pledged to end fossil fuel subsidies, but so far, Congress has been unwilling to make necessary cuts. Given that many of the newly elected members of Congress promised during their campaigns to cut deficit spending, they should be amenable to eliminating these subsidies, as doing so would reduce the deficit. Friends of the Earth and allies have identified $200 billion in environmentally harmful spending that can be cut from the budget in our Green Scissors report (http://www.greenscissors.com/). President Obama should pledge to spend political capital to eliminate these subsidies.

3) Hablar abiertamente sobre las graves amenazas que plantea el cambio climático y las soluciones reales

Last year was the hottest year ever recorded, and climate-related extreme weather events harmed people around the world. Scientists agree that the impacts of climate change will become much more severe if we do not rapidly reduce pollution. Unfortunately, right-wing, polluter-backed misinformation campaigns have confused much of the public about the state of the science. President Obama should use the bully pulpit of the presidency to call Americans’ attention to this challenge and the fact that while time is running out, solutions are still attainable.

4) Explique que la regulación gubernamental es a menudo algo bueno.

Effective regulations are essential to the strength of our economy and the well being of the public. However, corporate special interests seeking to enrich themselves have tried to make “regulation” a dirty word. This isn’t an abstract debate. We’ve seen in the past what happens without sufficient regulation: kids die when they eat contaminated food, rivers catch on fire, giant oil spills take human life and destroy ecosystems, corporations discriminate against and mistreat their employees, and financial institutions engage in behavior so risky that it crashes the economy. The truth is that in order for markets and society to function, we need regulations. President Obama should make this point.

5) Solicitar un proyecto de ley de transporte que reduzca los kilómetros recorridos por los vehículos.

Americans are boxed in by a built environment that requires cars for all manner of trips, resulting in worsening health, lost productivity and leisure time, and unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.  Our outdated federal transportation policy has resulted in yearly increases in what the Center for Clean Air Policy has dubbed “empty miles,” miles driven by cars that serve as a drag on household budgets and the wider American economy. The upcoming debate about the federal surface transportation bill is the perfect opportunity to reduce miles traveled by personal vehicles and to reconfigure the built environment by bringing origins and destinations closer together.  President Obama should urge Congress to promote healthier bodies, healthier pocketbooks, and a healthier planet by reducing vehicle miles travelled. He should call for investments in rail, public transit, walkable and bikeable communities and other smart transportation options.

6) Defender a las agencias federales de los ataques del Congreso

Miembros del 112^el El Congreso ha amenazado con paralizar por completo a agencias federales como la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) y la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA), con audiencias semanales o incluso diarias que cuestionan su autoridad para regular todo, desde los gases de efecto invernadero hasta los derrames de petróleo y la pesca transgénica. El presidente Obama debería defender firmemente a estas agencias, así como sus políticas y regulaciones, tanto existentes como propuestas, de cualquier ataque a su autoridad y capacidad para proteger nuestro medio ambiente y la salud pública.

What President Obama SHOULD AVOID:

1) Llamar limpias a las cosas sucias, como el llamado ‘Estándar de Electricidad Limpia’

En su discurso sobre el Estado de la Unión del año pasado, el presidente Obama sorprendió a los ambientalistas al calificar de "limpias" las fuentes de energía sucia, como las perforaciones marinas, los reactores nucleares, los biocombustibles y el carbón. Este año, existe el peligro de que respalde lo que engañosamente se denomina un "Estándar de Electricidad Limpia", un mandato de producción energética que incluiría muchas o todas estas fuentes de energía sucia.Vea la carta que Amigos de la Tierra y sus aliados enviaron a Obama instándolo a evitar respaldar un sucio Estándar de Electricidad Limpia. [pdf]) A far better approach would be to call for a “Renewable Electricity Standard” that requires the U.S. to ramp up energy use from truly clean sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal. We want President Obama to talk about clean energy, but only if he uses the term accurately.

2) Pretender que las medidas a medias son soluciones reales al cambio climático

La magnitud de la crisis climática exige cambios radicales en la forma en que producimos y consumimos energía. Podemos implementar estos cambios y, al mismo tiempo, hacer que nuestra sociedad sea más habitable y próspera, pero no podemos engañarnos pensando que pequeños cambios marginales serán suficientes para resolver el problema. Aplaudimos cualquier medida que el presidente Obama tome para reducir las emisiones, pero debería presentar las reducciones limitadas de emisiones como primeros pasos en la dirección correcta, en lugar de acciones que lograrán todo lo necesario.

3) Promover nuevos acuerdos de libre comercio que perjudicarán a los trabajadores y al medio ambiente

El presidente Obama prometió durante su campaña dar marcha atrás en la política de sus predecesores de promover acuerdos comerciales que beneficiaban a las multinacionales adineradas, pero perjudicaban a los trabajadores y al medio ambiente. Lamentablemente, la administración Obama anunció recientemente su apoyo a un acuerdo comercial similar al TLCAN con Corea del Sur. El presidente Obama debería cumplir su promesa de campaña y dejar de promover acuerdos comerciales perjudiciales. No debería impulsar la aprobación de ningún acuerdo comercial perjudicial en su discurso.

4) Ofrecer la entrega de la Casa Blanca a los lobbystas corporativos

President Obama won office thanks in large part to his message of change, particularly his pledge that he would change the way Washington works and limit the influence of corporate lobbyists. But his recent selections of William Daley (seen as a close friend of business interests) as his new chief of staff and GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt as the head of his council on jobs and economic competitiveness may indicate that the President is backing away from his commitment to stand up to corporate special interests. President Obama should make clear in his speech that he will use the presidency to fight for policies that are in the public interest — to stand up for the common good — and that he will not give special access to or begin caving more to the demands of corporate special interests. The government is already far too subservient to giant corporations; the President must not announce that he plans to grant them even more influence.