Obama’s Re-election and Climate Change

Something interesting happened last night.  Not only did President Obama win another four years as President of the United States, but in his acceptance speech he mentioned for the first time in several weeks, months even, the direct threat that climate change poses (See Acceptance Speech Below, 11:56).  This is a welcome public acknowledgement by the President to an issue that has been largely ignored even though it could be strongly argued that it is the greatest threat to not only the U.S., but humanity.  The next four year could prove pivotal in the U.S. taking the lead on climate change legislation.  If certain policies can’t be passed through the U.S. Congress, President Obama may use executive orders in order to move forward on addressing the threat of climate change.  President Obama could also encourage the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move forward on regulating CO2 and other GHG’s, which the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA could do under the Clean Air Act (CAA).  Republicans and those opposed to regulation of GHG’s could try and pass legislation making it illegal for the EPA to regulate GHG’s.  Even if this were to pass through the Congress, it is highly likely that the President would veto the effort and without a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate, the veto would hold.  The next four years surely looks more promising and I am hopeful that the U.S. will act.