[El Universal, Mexico]   BBC NEWS AUDIO: Oil analyst Nick McGregor says in the future companies will be expected to file a 'disaster plan' and be 'equipped with the kit' to manage any problem, June 7, 00:02:53

The gushing pipe of the sunken oil platform Deepwater Horizon seems contained, at least temporarily. But the crisis remains. Impotent, the U.S. government had to watch for weeks while oil company BP appeared to improvise without much of a salvage plan. The Obama Administration sought political protection by blaming BP and previous governments. But by adopting such a passive stance, the U.S. president won’t win anyone's respect.

 

Barack Obama promised his voters progress on environmental policy. It therefore isn't enough to simply reassure people that the guilty must pay for the damage. Obama wants to be a visionary. This should be done by confronting a subject that former President George H.W. Bush declared taboo at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro: “The American way of life is not-negotiable.” Obama has the opportunity now to steer the debate toward ecological common sense.

 

He must convince his people that the catastrophic oil spill has everything to do with an insatiable demand for energy and that additional licenses to drill in sensitive coastal areas would be irresponsible. On a global scale, the U.S. wastes more energy per capita than any other nation. Obama should argue that clean forms of energy pay off, because the consequences of catastrophic oil spills and global warming, brought on by burning fossil fuels, are ultimately be unaffordable.

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:  

Der Tagesspiegel, Germany: Obama's Fate Seen as Failure; Bad Luck as Incompetence  

Le Figaro, France: Obama and America's 'Katrina Syndrome'  

Die Welt, Germany: Superpower America Proves 'Powerless' in the Face of Oil  

Excelsior, Mexico: Mexican Leaders Dither as Gulf Oil Disaster Accelerates  

Guardian, U.K.: BP Hires American to Ward Off Anti-British Feeling in U.S.  

Der Tagesspiegel, Germany: Nothing Will Stop Americans from Drilling Offshore  

The Times, U.K.: Catastrophe a 'Huge Rebuke for America's Oil Addiction'

 

 

Just like the fight against terrorism, the logical approach for the Obama Administration would be to make the vigorous pursuit of safe energy its top priority. That would require an energy bill that includes incorporating ecological and social impacts into energy prices. That would require a new climate bill, which remains to be addressed by the Senate and which would provide fresh impetus for the next round of climate talks.  

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

Next week, preliminary talks for the climate conference next December in Mexico will be held in Bonn. Nothing points toward a real improvement over the meager results that came out of the climate summit in Copenhagen. Barack Obama could set an example by showing leadership at this time of crisis.

 

CLICK HERE FOR GERMAN VERSION

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US June 8, 12:19pm]