Even though in class we have talked about leadership on a relatively small, community oriented scale I think it is interesting to look at the leadership of our country as a whole: namely the 2012 presidential race. This race is extremely polarized without much in the way of a middle ground even in comparison to the Obama/ McCain match up only four short years ago. One issue that was a key issue for both sides in ’08 was the threat that Climate Change poses to the Untied States and the world at large. Although both sides might not have agreed on how to treat the problem they both saw it as such and made the issue a key component of the campaign.
This election cycle is quite different. There has been little to no attention paid to the issue of climate change or even to the environment as a whole.
The only thing that the Romney camp has really paid attention to in the environmental realm is to make coal more widely available and to lift regulations, not exactly the most environmentally friendly agenda if I do say so myself. Another interesting thing is that Romney has spent less on advertising than Obama but gets more advertising because A large chunk of his ads are paid for my coal corporations and other similar NGOs. Obama hasn’t said much in the way of this either other than his plan to use green energy production as a way to create more jobs and simultaneously more sustainable but it is no longer at the forefront of the campaign.
Posted by Emily Barnhill
Both candidates this year seem to be more focused on rebuilding the economy as well as the hot button social issues of healthcare, women’s rights and marriage equality. Do you think that environmental concerns should be more present in the campaign or are these other issues rightfully hogging the limelight?
October 1st, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Sadly, it is difficult to engage with two candidates who do not even believe that climate change is happening as we speak. I think leadership is needed on this issue considering we are one of the last nations to act according to international laws. Additionally, Obama has not provided enough environmental policies to make him an environmental president. Romney does not even mention climate change on his website and is willing to drill everywhere and anywhere.