The State of the Union (from the climate's point of view)

80% of America’s energy will come from clean energy sources by 2035, Obama boldly proclaimed in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. No more subsidies for oil, and one million electric cars on the road by 2015 were two more ambitious goals set by the great orator.

Bold words, Obama, bold words.

Sitting in front of the television, I got excited. My heart raced. This is what I want to hear! Tell me more!

However, somehow he couldn’t muster up the courage to utter the words “climate change.” He failed to link any of his proclamations to the one force governing all of the effort. I understand his decision due to the deeply divided political climate. But it still disappointed me to think that we have taken some steps backward politically.

50% of Americans don’t attribute climate change to human causes. Can you believe that, students of the Berkeley bubble? We live in a world where we listen to and believe scientists, and aren’t afraid to confront “inconvenient truths.” But 50% of America is living in a completely different world.

I hope from the bottom of my heart that Obama’s inspiring speech will spur some big changes into action. We do need clean energy and we do need electric cars, and we need them as soon as possible. But we also need a political climate that unitedly accepts climate change as a challenge to confront today.