Where to now for America?Reader submitted

Sustainability was barely mentioned by either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney during their campaigning for the Oval Office. Climate change was well down the list of issues, in an election dominated by a global financial crisis and high unemployment rates. That is until Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast, causing chaos and destruction, and possibly forecasting what a changing climate can mean in real terms.

Obama was relatively proactive about promoting ‘green jobs’ in his first term, in an attempt to wean the United States off its dependency on fossil fuels and on to renewable, sustainable power supplies. He pledged $90 billion to ‘green jobs,’ significantly including $21 billion in clean energy subsidies, to companies generating solar and wind power.

So what are the possibilities for the next four years? In his victory speech, Obama stated he ‘wants our children to live in a country that isn’t burdened… by the destructive power of a warming planet.’ He has pledged to continue expanding the production of clean and renewable energy, and work towards ending a $4 billion tax break for oil and gas companies. He has also set a goal to have 80% of America’s electricity to be generated from clean energy by 2035.

In terms of global output of carbon emissions, America is second only to China, and is responsible for 18.27% of global carbon emissions, according to a UN estimate. This means an America that is focused on reducing their carbon emissions and switching their fuel and power dependency from fossil fuels to renewable and sustainable sources is not just good for America, it will have a major effect on over-all global carbon emissions. Not to mention the effect self-sustainability could have on their involvement in the Middle East…