Barack Obama
In reply to the discussion: Oh, those Pesky Facts. [View all]swilton
(5,069 posts)With the planned obsolescence and waste embedded in the system, changing the light bulbs and driving a few hybrid vehicles contributes to the GHG emissions.....There is no way to 'grow our way' out of the environmental crisis no matter how many statistics big business produces. Big business initiatives such as fuel efficient cars for example just cause people to dry farther with more cars.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/21743-missing-the-marx-more-or-less-on-intellectual-failure-and-environmental-catastrophe#.Uvf8yXMHtWA.email
Since the initial climate change summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, administrations from both parties have worked to undermine the emissions reductions and weaken participation by other states. This was especially true of the Obama Administration's behavior at the Copenhagen Summit when he worked behind closed doors to undermine participation...Now it is coming out about the NSA spying on the participants. Despite SoS Kerry's rhetoric, there has been limited actions by this administration to reduce climate change - in fact by pushing the Trans XL and TPP, their initiatives will make climate emissions worse.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/20/finance_climate_action_not_fossil_fuel
Look at who Obama appoints as Energy Secretary - big ties to BP and fracking and nuclear industries...
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/26/energy_nominee_ernest_moniz_criticized_for
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/13/this_should_not_come_as_a
Despite the rosy scenario that these pro-corporate (and let's be honest they are all pro-corporate statistics and come from big business), the statistics for the 99% of the US population are worse....The unemployment numbers for example don't reflect the lack of employment for the people who have stopped looking for work...They also don't measure the rising gap in
income inequality like life expectancy which is a derivative of the rising inequality..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
And I will not even mention the statistics on war and peace and how our military empire is expanding and has expanded over the past 5 years, nor will I mention Obama's being the first Democratic Party president to put social security and medicare cuts on the table....and to privatize public education.