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Latest Posts tagged with "Obama"

What Obama's 'era of responsibility' means for conservationists

January 22, 2009 By Drew Bush

Inauguration. Photo by sneakerdog, Courtesy Flickr.

As I shivered in the cold on our nation's front porch last Tuesday with millions of other Americans at President Obama's inauguration, I could not help but feel warm. For the first time in my adult life, one of our elected leaders had issued a call for each of us to do more. Echoing the words President John F. Kennedy once spoke to my parents’ generation, President Obama noted that our citizenship is more than just a privilege but also a great responsibility. Read more

Presidential Legacies: The Antiquities Act and the Pacific

January 9, 2009 By Kevin Mack

Johnston Atoll, one of several areas protected under President Bush's use of the Antiquities Act. Courtesy EPA.

The outgoing president has been up to some last minute attacks on the environment. That is no surprise to some. However, President Bush’s use of the Antiquities Act to protect a large area of the western Pacific Ocean as a National Monument may also be a surprise to some, and it should be commended. He continues a presidential tradition of using the Act to protect some of the nation’s most spectacular natural and cultural resources. In fact, only three presidents since the passage of the Act in 1906 — Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and George H.W. Read more

Salazar Well-Suited for Interior

December 18, 2008 By Steve Smith

Sen. Ken Salazar, President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Interior, has been a bridge-building environmental leader in Colorado for over a decade and a personally committed land steward before that. He understands the land, water, and people of the west and the intricate connections among those key features of our natural and social landscape. Read more

The Return of Mindfulness

November 5, 2008 By Spencer R. Phillips, Ph.D.

Between the time I was born and the time I entered kindergarten, we lost John and Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But we also gained: the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and The Wilderness Act. Even amid the loss and disarray (rioting in our cities and body counts in a senseless war being my earliest memories of television), there was the promise of freedom and wholeness. Read more

Historic Election Well Worth the Wait for Veteran Staffer

November 5, 2008 By Tashia Tucker

Barack Obama. Photo by transplanted-mountaineer, Courtesy of Flickr.

Louise Tucker may be tearful and sleep-deprived this morning, but she assures me she couldn’t be more joyful. Louise, like much of the world, proudly watched President-Elect Barack Obama make history last night, sealed by his humble message that “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change.” Read more

From Divisiveness to Unity

November 5, 2008 By William H. Meadows

America awoke today to the promise of a new political reality, one based not in divisiveness but in unity. Read more

Obama, Unity, and Our Work

November 5, 2008 By

Flag. Photo by tomsaint11, Courtesy of Flickr.

For me, the real promise of an Obama presidency is the promise of unity. We may not always agree, but working together to protect the lands we own in common — the lands that benefit so many in so many ways — can be very unifying work. I am also grateful for the new, collaborative leadership that President Obama has promised for Washington. I’m hopeful that style will extend to Congress as Washington attempts to address the many complex challenges in America’s future. Read more