Political Actions vs. Campaign Promises April 9, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Sustainable Living.trackback
Actions speak louder than words and political actions speak louder than campaign promises.
From my vantage point, Obama’s campaign promises are turning out to be just like those of other politicians:
EMPTY.
While Obama certainly is not responsible for the state of the world as it exists today, he is responsible and should be held accountable for his own actions and inactions.
He cannot continue to support the status quo and politics as usual if he wants to honor his promise to bring real change to Washington.
When we observe the “what is” as it unfolds in DC, we see Obama making choices that clearly are not in the long-term best interest of this country ~ e.g., giving a key agriculture post to a Monsanto Man.
* Why not appoint someone who advocates eating locally grown food?
* Why not appoint someone who supports organic, sustainably grown food?
* Why not appoint someone who advocates against the use of pesticides?
* Why not appoint someone who isn’t in favor of genetically modified food?
Why not climb out of Monsanto’s back pocket and represent the interests of the citizens who voted him into office??
Obama’s support of off-shore drilling in previously protected areas is another example of an egregious and perhaps irreparable mistake he has made ~ putting politics first and the good of this country and the world second.
How can Obama continue to support off-shore drilling, “clean” coal, and nuclear power instead of clean, renewable, economical, and sustainable energy sources such as eSolar’s SunTower in CA???
According to the Los Angeles Times article above: “the White House sees its new drilling plan as a way to curry favor with Republicans and moderate Democrats.”
To curry favor . . . if that’s not politics as usual, I don’t know what is.
* We have sustainable technology available to us right now which would reduce our reliance on foreign oil and preserve the planet for future generations to enjoy.
* We could power the entire state of California in an area 5 miles wide by 5 miles long.
* We could create green jobs instead of running the risk of devastating oil spills off the coast of Florida.
Sadly, solar technology and other sustainable energy sources are largely ignored because powerful lobbyists exert control over the political process.
If we want to realize real change in DC, we need to educate ourselves on issues of lasting import to the nation and the world.
We need to look behind empty campaign promises and examine each politician’s actual track record whenever they are up for re-election. We need to vote against politicians who are in DC to get an ego boost from the power and prestige, and vote for candidates who are advocates for the planet as a whole.
When we rid DC of politicians (and lobbyists) who put self-interest and political preservation ahead of the common good . . . real change will emerge at last.
For a great debate on the issue of Off-Shore drilling: National Journal Expert Blogs ~ Energy and Environment.
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
Spirit Lights The Way 
Due to the immensity of this topic, there is not enough room on your blog to adequately convey all of the subject matter. However, I would like to say a few things in support of your post. First, it is true that actions speak louder than words. Especially those of ANY politician.
But until we the people, can find a way to remove greed and corruption from our political arenas, I’m afraid all we will ever have is just that. WORDS.
Solar power IS the way to go for this planet.In ONE YEAR(!), the amount of solar energy reaching the earth is TWICE as much as will EVER be obtained from ALL of the earth’s non-renewable resources of oil, natural gas, and minded uranium COMBINED! But alas, here is where the worm turns. The aforementioned greed and corruption of the political machine. They are not about to “throw the baby out with the wash”
Solar power cannot run the war machines. And that will never do! As long as there are billions, nay, trillions of dollars at stake, we will never see a source of energy such as Solar. All we can do then, is our part in assuring that we use solar power as best we can. Recycle all we can. Walk when we can. And to at least TRY and elect honest officials who are not afraid of commiting political “suicide” by ardently and unremittingly demanding the aggressive proliferation of alternative and reusable energy sources. I.E. solar.
Sorry to ramble on, but this is a subject that needs to be addressed by all. Were running out of time.
Hear! Hear!
The last link in this article is worth a look ~ various experts, including those from Defenders of Wildlife and NRDC, sound off on Obama’s misguided decision to drill off-shore.
While there is a divergence of opinion on the topic . . . readers can demonstrate support and agreement with specific experts by clicking the “AGREE” button.
Who’s getting the most votes? Those OPPOSED to off-shore drilling and in favor of SOLAR!
Happy Earth Day 2010.