After making the rounds at Democratic parties in swank Washington hotels on November 4, one gaggle of environmentalists spontaneously trooped down to the White House and ended up dancing in the streets amid an ecstatic crowd of thousands until well after midnight. That celebratory evening marked the start of what many environmentalists nationwide hope will be a drastic U-turn in government policies on issues ranging from habitat protection to greenhouse-gas restrictions.<\/p>\n
Within weeks of the election, a coalition of environmental groups presented a report to President-elect Barack Obama\u2019s transition team, outlining specific steps the new administration should take to protect the nation\u2019s air, water, land, plants, and animals, and to undo eight years of mostly harmful regulations and legislation. With public funding scarce and the stock market in free fall, this campaign may prove as long and difficult as the 2008 election races. But leading environmentalists are optimistic. \u201cThe economy is the biggest problem, and the main way to fix it is to create a new energy future,\u201d says League of Conservation Voters (LCV) president Gene Karpinski, who is confident that Obama understands that global change, energy policy, and economic health are inextricably linked.<\/p>\n
Obama pledged during the campaign to tackle global warming by instituting a cap-and-trade program designed to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. He also promised that a million new hybrid cars would hit the road by 2015 and that renewable sources would account for 10 percent of energy production by 2012. John Podesta, co-chief of Obama\u2019s transition team (which includes Carol Browner, ex-chief of the Environmental Protection Agency and Audubon\u2019s outgoing board chair), sought to reassure conservationists just days after the election that the economy won\u2019t torpedo those plans completely. Podesta also sent an experienced and eco-conscious team, including environmental lobbyist and former EPA deputy director Robert Sussman, to review the EPA.<\/p>\n
Friendlier faces will also dominate Pennsylvania Avenue\u2019s other end. \u201cNot only is there a president who is more pro-environment, there are House and Senate lawmakers who actually campaigned on these issues,\u201d adds Karpinski. Two-thirds of the Dirty Dozen\u2014congressional candidates who consistently vote against environmental issues like clean energy and conservation\u2014failed to win the support of voters. Gone, for instance, is North Carolina Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole, a friend of oil and gas interests. Tom Udall, son of the former Interior Secretary and nephew of famed environmentalist Mo Udall, won a hotly contested New Mexico race to replace powerful Republican Senator Pete Domenici. His cousin Mark Udall, who also embraces the family conservation ethic, took a Colorado Senate seat. Across the aisle, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins, whom the LCV backed over her Democratic opponent, was reelected.<\/p>\n
But the jockeying for key committee posts among congressional Democrats is already proving contentious. For example, Representative John Dingle (D-MI), the longtime chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and a staunch defender of Detroit, lost his chairmanship to Henry Waxman (D-CA) by a 137\u2013122 caucus vote in November. And Obama\u2019s support for corn ethanol and \u201cclean coal\u201d is likely to rub some Democrats on Capitol Hill the wrong way.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s clear is that voters aren\u2019t willing to sacrifice the environment for potential short-term gas savings. \u201cThis election replaces \u2018drill, baby, drill\u2019 with a new model of efficient and renewable energy,\u201d says Betsy Loyless, Audubon\u2019s senior vice president for policy. The challenge now is whether those swept into office in this decisive election can ensure that the three E\u2019s\u2014environment, energy, and the economy\u2014work together in harmony.\u2014Andrew Lawler<\/p>\n