President Obama arrives in Alaska today to talk about climate change. Unless he announces a significant change in policy, going to Alaska to tout his climate achievements after he approved drilling in the Arctic could be his “Mission Accomplished” moment.
We are urging activists to take action at MissionNotAccomplished.com and the mainstream press has taken notice. The New York Times, CNN, USA Today, NBC Nightly News and others are reporting on CREDO’s campaign and the president's climate hypocrisy.
Below the orange swirl of spilled Arctic oil, why we are calling this President Obama's "Mission Accomplished" moment, and how we got there.
August 13th started as a typical day at CREDO Action. We launched new campaigns, shared our weekly Thursday team lunch together, and waited to see if President Obama was going to issue the final permit for Shell to drill into the “oil-bearing” zones in the Arctic.
Scientists have been crystal clear that Arctic oil especially needs to be left in the ground. But given all the other times the president has said yes to fossil fuel companies when asking to drill or mine in the U.S., we weren’t holding our breath.
The President certainly did surprise us that day. But not in the way we were hoping.
Our mouths basically dropped when we saw it: The White House video announcing the President’s trip to Alaska to talk about climate change. It contained stunning images of Alaska, along with strong words from the President:
“...Alaskans’ are on the front lines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century - climate change... What’s happening in Alaska isn’t just a preview of what will happen to the rest of us if we don’t take action. It’s our wakeup call. The alarm bells are ringing. And as long as I'm president America will lead the world to meet this threat, before it’s too late.”
There were one of two things happening here. 1) Either the “All of the Above” president is going to surprise us, announce a major shift in policy, and not give Shell the permit to drill, or 2) This is a President in deep denial who believes the American people will cheer him for offering stirring words on what climate leadership means, even while he undermines any progress his administration has made with dangerous giveaways to the oil and gas industry.
We got our answer the next Monday, when the President issued Shell the final permit to drill its “exploratory” well. (Which, for those keeping track, is the same activity BP’s Deepwater Horizon well was doing when it exploded in the Gulf.)
Against the backdrop of Arctic drilling approval, the Alaska video was stunningly brazen. The hypocrisy of President Obama’s fossil fuel extraction record, contrasted against his words, spoke for itself. We just added it to his video:
The notion of the Alaska trip itself was appalling. The President was going to Alaska... where he just approved drilling for Arctic oil… which scientists say must stay in the ground... to talk about the urgency of climate change and his administration's accomplishments?!?
Who could possibly be that deluded? That in denial? That tragically naive?
That was when I realized this was President Obama’s “Mission Accomplished” moment. We created this image, replacing George W. Bush’s with President Obama – and putting the Shell logo right where it belonged.
Yes, it’s a harsh. It brings up painful memories. But it was as if President Obama was channelling George W. Bush:
Obama: “Climate change is one of the greatest threats we face.”
Shell: “So can we get started drilling into the 100 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic?”
Obama: “Yes you can. Gtg - heading up to Alaska to talk about climate change.”
We laid out the argument on Medium.com in “President Obama’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment.”
This is the self-defeating hypocrisy at the heart of President Obama’s energy policy — what he calls his “All-of-the-Above” strategy. He increased fuel efficiency standards for cars, but also approved the southern portion of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. He made sizeable investments in clean energy and energy efficiency, but approved fracking on federal lands. He reached a historic climate deal with China, but his trade representative pressured Europe to lift its restriction on higher-carbon tar sands crude. He implemented the Clean Power Plan to limit carbon pollution from aging coal-burning power plants, while handing over to coal companies 2.2 billion tons of publicly-owned coal, with plans to make another 10 billion tons available, (which would emit three times the emissions his Power Plan would save through 2030.) He secretly approved the massive Alberta Clipper tar sands pipeline expansion without environmental review. He is proposing opening the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling. Under President Obama, the United States is the top oil and gas producer in the world.
And now, against universal protest from environmentalists, President Obama has added Arctic drilling to his legacy. He did so just days before a historic trip to Alaska, where we can expect the president, if he sticks to his usual lines, to tell us about his unprecedented actions to reduce carbon pollution and slow climate change.
President George W. Bush’s premature declaration of victory in Iraq didn’t end his unnecessary, decade-long war of choice there. We shouldn’t expect a different result when President Obama proclaims the urgency of climate change while lighting the fuse on the Arctic carbon bomb. Just as “Mission Accomplished” was a wake up call about a president in deep denial, so too is President Obama’s Alaska trip.
If President Obama wants to be a climate leader, he needs to face the facts. Instead he’s likely to double down on his hypocrisy in Alaska today, as he did in his
weekly address over the weekend.
Powerful words...
“If another country threatened to wipe out an American town, we’d do everything in our power to protect ourselves. Climate change poses the same threat, right now.”
...meet inexplicable denial.
“...my administration has worked to make sure that our oil exploration conducted under these leases is done at the highest standards possible, with requirements specifically tailored to the risks of drilling off Alaska.”
Shell’s safety in the fragile Arctic is an issue. But it’s not THE issue. The issue is the heating atmosphere threatening to wipe out American towns the President just talked about, and the 100 billion barrels of oil below below Shell’s drilling rig.
That’s. Why. You. Don’t. Drill. The. Arctic.
So, that’s how we got to that video, and to MissionNotAccomplished.com, where we hope you go take action right now. We also hope President Obama makes us look like jerks by announcing a major change in his energy policy. But we’re not holding our breath.