(Obama’s rabid support of fossil fuels in his speech was a shameful moment in American history. The progressive movements and environmental movements are utterly worthless if they do not respond in force. – promoted by eli_beckerman)

If President Barack Obama gets his way with his new energy policy, he may go down in history as “the president who fueled the fire of climate disaster,” according to the still stunned Green Party presidential frontrunner, medical doctor Jill Stein.  Stein’s remarks were a delayed reaction to the President’s State of the Union Address in which the President proposed opening 75% of public lands to oil exploration, massively expanding drilling for natural gas, removing “red tape” that stands in the way of construction projects, and delaying any comprehensive approach to global warming.

“With his State of the Union speech, President Obama adopted the apocalyptic ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ platform of the most rabid Republicans. He is parroting the fossil fuel lobbyists in saying that our public lands and our environment should be sacrificed for the goal of increasing domestic oil production.”

“The President’s spin ignores the fact that our most pressing problem isn’t foreign oil, it’s what fossil fuels, both foreign and domestic, are doing to our planet. The President’s ‘all of the above’ approach to polluting energy is an alarming denial of the climate emergency we face and the urgent need to substantially reduce the amount of carbon we exhaust into the atmosphere. Our nation and human society around the world are already experiencing serious climate disruption. The President has given up the fight against climate change just when we most need to expand our efforts.”

“The extraction process known as hydrofracking that was praised by the President will bring environmental degradation to over 30 states.  We don’t have adequate regulations in place to protect our land and water from its effects, yet the President is moving full speed ahead.  I support a moratorium on hydrofracking until we understand the consequences and get suitable controls on its impacts.”  

“The Administration that presided over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf has responded by pushing for even more offshore drilling. We’ve all been through the school of hard knocks, but apparently this White House didn’t learn a thing from the experience.”

“At the Durban climate conference last year, the President undermined international climate protection by refusing to accept any global treaty until after 2020.  Now he has abandoned any comprehensive national legislation.  His support for renewable energy is entirely inadequate. Any benefits from these modest programs will be totally overwhelmed by the surge of carbon pollution from his fossil fuel expansion.  Taken in its totality, it’s an unforgivably irresponsible denial of the reality of the threat to our climate.”

Stein has proposed a “Green New Deal” that would wind down fossil fuel use by 2020 and create millions of jobs in a clean energy economy.

Stein’s campaign manager, Ben Manski,  observed “After this State of the Union speech, the Green Party has emerged as the only national party advocating for a sane and responsible national energy policy.  In 2012 we will give the American people a chance to vote for the survival of their planet.”

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Release by Jill Stein for President, February 02, 2012, www.jillstein.org