duced. By leveraging the ominous economic scene dropped into his lap in the fledgling days of his administration, Obama turned a seemingly hopeless situation into a defining positive. The administration’s dramatic and comprehensive response to a nation in turmoil delivered a bailout package that galvanized the desire for both economic and environmental improvements. To truly understand the magnitude of these environmental policy achievements the previous 40 years of turbulent U.S . Environmental policy warrants discussion.Beginning with Nixon’s proclamation that the 1970s were to be the environmental decade, America embarked on an arduous roller coaster of environmental policies that ebbed and flowed with the political climate of the day. U.S. environmental protection as we know it today was initially catalyzed at the federal level by the politically savvy Nixon. He astutely rode the barometer of popular opinion surging forth, demanding increased and strengthened environmental protection to take the federal government well beyond simple land management. It was for reasons of political saliency that Nixon (and later elder Bush) keenly adopted a conservationist mantra, despite lacking a previous record of strong pro-environmental policy. For this reason Nixon (and elder Bush) is classified in the context of environmental policy as an opportunistic leader. Opportunistic or not, Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act into law and prompted what became a decade of tremendous environmental protection legislation. By contrast, the Democratic presidents, Carter and Clinton, who both came into the presidency with motivated environmental agendas were relegated to underachievement, producing less than was expected of their administrations. Despite their efforts to drive environmental protection further than previous generations they could not achieve their noble aims. Of course these categories of environmental presidencies are juxtaposed by the antiregulation administrations of Reagan and George W. Bush who actively worked to roll back or weaken the existing environmental legislation built up over previous administrations.
However remarkable or frustratingly ineffective any of these presidential administrations were, it was not due solely to the administration itself. The U.S. system of government founded in federalism and a separation of powers plays a key role in influencing how successfully an environmental ideology will move forward. Specifically Congress plays a major role in determining what legislation will berth into law. For example, Clinton’s underachievement can be attributed to a Republican controlled Congress that blocked efforts to implement new or expanded environmental protection legislation. Despite abolishing the Council on Competitiveness, creating an Office of Environmental Policy, and appointing qualified and pro-environment positions Clinton’s agenda was ultimately thwarted by Congress. But, this is a political dance that works both ways as pro-environmental legislation moving through Congress can also get threatened by or actually vetoed by the president as was the case when George W. Bush vetoed the Water Resources Development Act of 2007.
How the political stars align during each presidency creates disparities in the continuum of our environmental policies.. During the 1970’s, 19 different environmental policies were enacted in legislation. Most notably these include the National Environmental Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Pro -environmental protection efforts were then marred during the 1980’s by Reagan’s expansion of administrative powers. Essentially Reagan used his position as president to redirect policy via his appointments, policy coordination within the White House staff, deep budget cuts, and a reevaluation of existing environmental policy. This had a lasting effect on the EPA as it lost approximately a third of its budget and roughly 20% of its staff. Elder Bush who served as Reagan’s VP saw the need to accommodate environmental concerns as he became president and worked to pass the Clean Air Act, the most notable pro-environmental achievement of the 1980s. However, his nominees for environmental positions were in the same vein as the Reagan administration and ultimately he got the 1990’s off to a poor environmental start by ensuring that the 92 Earth Summit would not contain binding carbon dioxide targets. The 90’s eventually proved a better decade for the environment with Clinton at the helm and Gore given the lead on environmental policy. The Clinton administration protected 60 million acres of roadless forests, the Everglades, Yellowstone National Park and redwood groves in California. And, just before leaving office he secured improvements in water quality, dropping the acceptable levels of arsenic in drinking water from 50ppm to 10ppm. Unfortunately, George W. Bush was a return to the politics of Reagan and elder Bush. Besides bending EPA scientific findings to meet his policy initiatives, Bush most notably withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto Treaty.
So it is upon this torrent that Obama was able to build momentum for a new age of pro-environmental policy in America. The extremely complex scenario that requires the President, Congress, and popular opinion to align simultaneously came to pass under Obama’s first four years. He keenly leveraged the opportunity by understanding that economic growth could be found in the vehicle of environmental protection. This validation of the Clinton/Gore ideology started with the creation of “green collar” jobs funded by his economic recovery plan, i.e. stimulus package. Obama righted the economic ship while simultaneously igniting popular opinion for improvements in environmental protection. Over the course of his administration he was able to install a cap and trade system on emissions, require higher fuel efficiency vehicle standards, repair EPA budgets to exceed pre Reagan cuts, reorganize the agency to consolidated scattered responsibilities, and work with the Congress to revised unrealistically mandated research timelines. Obama has been by far the most effective pro-environmental protection president since Nixon in only four years. Hopefully this alone is enough to secure his reelection.
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