Will the President now commit to climate change action?

Expectations rise as newly re-elected Obama talks about ‘destructive power of a warming planet’

With the celebrations of his supporters still in full swing, President Barack Obama has also fueled excitement among environmental campaigners with his victory speech, in which he seemed to accept the risk that climate change poses to the world by mentioning the ‘destructive power of a warming planet’.

Whilst his Republican rival Mitt Romney turned rising sea-levels into a joke during his acceptance speech in August, and despite both candidates completely ignoring climate change during their televised election debates, campaigners feel confident that Obama will start to take action on the issue during his final term as President.

As was the case during his first term, Obama will have a tough task of pushing through any legislation on climate change due to the Republican’s continued control of the House of Representatives. However, with the impact of Hurricane Sandy still fresh in people’s minds, an endorsement from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg because of his position on climate change, and the fact that the majority of Democrats elected to the Senate and the House of Representatives owe many of their victories to the votes of environmental campaigners, Obama does have a better chance of making any climate-change based laws over the next four years than he did during the last four.

The existing Keystone pipeline and the routes of the proposed XL addition

(Source - The Guardian)

Obama has the perfect opportunity to please climate change campaigners, following news that a demonstration will be held outside the White House on 18th November protesting against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which will carry oil from Canada to be refined in Texas. The pipeline has faced heavy criticism from many people following its announcement, including Kill Bill actress Daryl Hannah, who was arrested for her role in a protest against the pipeline last month.