Commentary—

2007 Was Green;

Let’s Make 2008 Greener

By Carl Pope

All in all, 2007 was an unprecedented year for Americans who care about what happens to our environment. It seemed like our leaders and the media finally woke up to the realities of global warming — and now it’s time to start doing something about it.  

It feels unmistakably as though the tide is turning, and lawmakers are beginning to catch up with the majority of Americans who want to move toward a more sustainable energy economy and reestablish the United States as a global environmental leader.

We celebrated the passage of the first increase in miles-per-gallon standards in 32 years as part of a historic energy bill, which is the start of a cleaner, greener energy future for America. Recognizing coal’s contribution to global warming emissions, states around the country are beginning to say no to new coal-fired power plants (56 in 2007) and instead focus on investments that bring clean energy and jobs at the same time.

Court victories underscored both the urgent need for action on global warming and rebuked those standing in the way. The series of victories began at the Supreme Court last spring where Justices told the Bush Administration that it was time to recognize global warming emissions as pollution, and continued with key wins where the auto industry unsuccessfully tried to stop California and 16 other states from adopting tougher clean car standards.  

Brave survivors of Hurricane Katrina testified before Congress about their experience with FEMA as the agency continued to house thousands of disaster victims in trailers containing dangerous levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde. The Sierra Club is also proud of work to expose the past failures of the Consumer Products Safety Commission to adequately warn citizens of the dangers posed by exposure to toxic lead in toys and other products.  

With so much about the environment in the news, the year also saw a rise in the trend of “green” choices. Living a more environmentally conscious life is now hugely popular as the public grapples with ways to reduce their own carbon footprint and impact on the environment.

The victories are monumental, but now is not the time to rest on our laurels. The summer of 2007 brought record melt to the arctic ice cap, with sea ice coverage in September 38 percent below average and 24 percent below the previous record minimum set in 2005. There is much to be done in 2008. Fighting global warming remains top priority for next year.

Congress will debate how to fight global warming, how much to increase our use of renewable sources of electricity and whether to protect thousands of streams, wetlands. and other drinking water sources from development. The government will decide whether to list the polar bear as “threatened” as its habitat melts away.  

Of course the biggest environmental story of 2008 will be the elections. The president we elect in 2008 will have an impact on how America meets the challenge of warming that will be felt for decades to come. Citizens will have the choice of halting this year’s momentum, or building on 2007’s progress towards a clean energy future and a safer, cleaner world we can leave for future generations of Americans.

We can also expect the outdated polluting industries of the past, like coal and oil, to continue to spend millions of dollars trying to get in the way of America’s clean energy future. Their expensive lobbying and PR campaigns will be tough to counter, but we believe that the shades have been removed from the eyes of the public — the people understand that they don’t have to settle for more mining, drilling, and burning of fossil fuels. The technology exists to provide us with the energy we want, the jobs we need and the clean environment our children will depend on.

 

(Carl Pope is executive director of Sierra Club, America’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.)