League of Conservation Voters Gives Obama a 'Solid B+' on His First Year in Office

WASHINGTON, DC — The League of Conservation Voters highly praised U.S. President Barack Obama for superlative work to foster clean energy and curb climate change during his first year in office -- and then gave him a B+ for his efforts.

In issuing report cards to the nation's chief executives in their first year in office, the LCV gave George W. Bush a D- and Bill Clinton a C+.

Obama, however, has "done more to create new clean energy jobs and curb global warming pollution during his first year than any other president has accomplished during an entire term," said LCV President Gene Karpinski in a prepared statement.

Then in a comment that hinted why Obama didn't get the top grade, Karpinski continued, "We applaud his solid B+ grade and look forward to working with him in 2010 to complete his most important unfinished business: passing comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation."

And although Obama has acted on "numerous important environmental and public health issues, this report focuses exclusively on energy and global warming measures, given the urgency of solving the climate crisis and building a clean energy economy," the organization's statement said.
 
The group also said it conferred with policy experts at a dozen environmental organizations in assessing Obama's performance in the target areas.

The League of Conservation Voters cited six high points of Obama's Year 1:

• His leadership role in the House of Representatives' passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
• His administration's granting of a waiver to California that enabled the state to impose stricter vehicle tailpipe emissions standards, and the proposal of nationwide emission standards that will result in the equivalent of taking 32 million cars off the road.
• His appointment of cabinet and administration officials and staff who have strong records as environmental stewards, scientists and experts.
• The finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and welfare.
• His pushing for "the single largest investment in clean energy in history -- more than $80 billion for energy efficiency, renewable energy, public transit and clean energy jobs in the economic recovery package."
•  "Achieving modest but critical progress" at the international climate talks in Copenhagen in December.

The league's presidential report card on Obama is available at http://lcv.org/reportcard/   

"While the president has made important strides forward, his greatest challenges lie firmly ahead," Karpinski's statement concluded.

In February, the organization plans to release the 2009 National Environmental Scorecard, the LCV's evaluation of legislative actions taken during the 110th Congress.

Images courtesy of lcv.org.