Like many folks, I waited patiently for President Obama to use global climate change as an issue in the campaign. On November 6 I was overjoyed by his victory, but perhaps pessimistically, I felt his election night speech mention of "an America ... that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet" was just tiny crumbs compared to the gravity of the issue and the extent of my support for his campaign.
I was encouraged by Kevin Kennedy's Obama Climate Change Action Items For The Second Obama Administration :"1) Use the Bully Pulpit .... 2) Establish an American Plan for Climate Action .... 3) Reduce Emissions of Other Potent Greenhouse Gases." I was further encouraged by seeing Bill McKibben as his Do The Math Tour came to San Francisco, especially 350.org's fossil fuel divestment ideas and the recent activism around the Keystone XL pipeline.
I share other progressives' skepticism about the efficacy of the "now make me do it" approach with President Obama. But reading Meteor Blades today,
Reseearchers: Sea levels rising 60% faster than previous expected,
which is yet another unwelcome change in the earth's vital signs,
I was reminded of my promise to myself: once past the severely conservative danger posed by Mr. 47%, help turn the pressure on Obama's climate change policies "up to 11."
Personally, I have resolved to: participate more online via dkos, 350.org, and directly contacting the White House and OFA; seek out others interested in directly pressuring President Obama; and keep learning more about the science of climate change and pedagogy for teaching about it. What else might I do? What else might we do?