Fortune and fantasy on Africa's oil frontier
Photo: AP
Obama 2012 is not Obama 2008. Divided U.S. Gives Obama More Time, says the New York Times in an article about his “narrow victory”. Early this morning Obama told the crowds in Chicago that “the best is yet to come,” but we all know that — even with the best of intentions — he faces a bitterly divided government, a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the toxic influence of corporate money on U.S. politics.
But keeping the Romney-Republican agenda out of the White House is significant. Romney had promised to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform that includes the important sections 1502 and 1504 that address the use of conflict minerals and oil and gas transparency, respectively. Sections 1502 and 1504 have already helped advanced similar legislation in Europe. And Romney repeatedly attacked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and pledged to undo coal and fuel-economy regulation.
Read more: Romney Stocks Rock After Obama Win, Big Banks, Coal Miners Battered.
What does Obama’s victory mean for action on global warming?
And Scott Rosenberg writes in Grist that Obama’s win is something more than the same-old same-0ld: The climate has a fighting chance: Obama disappointed climate hawks in his first term. His “all of the above” energy strategy promises no sharpening of policy or change of heart. But at least his party is willing to speak about the issue without dismissing science.
In the wake of Sandy’s coastal devastation, there’s at least a chance of reopening the national conversation about global warming. It would be great for that conversation to be led by a president who’s a real climate crusader.
Obama hasn’t been one, so far. But at least we’re not getting a denier in the White House.
Christiane Badgley has been producing and editing documentary films for the past twenty years, with much of her work focused on the U.S. criminal justice system and post-colonial African politics and history.
