Air Date: Week of November 7, 2008

Living on Earth asked listeners what they want to see happen in the first 100 days of the Obama presidency.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Last week we invited you listeners to come up with suggestions for environmental and energy priorities in the first one hundred days of the new administration. And you did.

MAN: One of President Obama’s priorities in his first hundred days in office should be “debushification” of the government. This would be removing Bush appointees that are either unqualified or politically biased.

MAN: I think one of Barack’s first actions should be to rejoin the world community by re-signing the Kyoto Treaty. I think this will send a clear message to the world and to all Americans that he’s committed to resolving the climate crisis and working with all nations in a global effort.

WOMAN: Why not uncap all the oil and gas wells that are now capped in the United States. We could get thousands and thousands of millions of gallons of gas and oil from them.

MAN: I think that in the first hundred days the new president needs to work with Congress to tax carbon, nonrenewable sources of energy and use that to fund research and development of alternative energies and increased energy efficiency, especially in buildings.

MAN: I believe the new president should have a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and instead we could be investing in alternative energies, especially solar and nuclear.

WOMAN: It is very important to me that the United States follow what is going on in Europe and Asia and restore its railroad transport. The cross country railroad transport is – except for a few routes – is shockingly bad.

WOMAN: I think our food system is broken. I – my biggest concern is animal agriculture. According the UN, the raising of cattle contributes more to greenhouse gases than cars do, and this is an issue that I would very much like our president to address.

YOUNG: Voices of our listeners Matt Trostel from Texas, John Deterling from Maine, Jay Turner of California, Judy Dobbs-Matter of Pennsylvania, Caleb Crawford of Mississippi, Jack Helder of Michigan, Andy Palmer from Pennsylvania, and Isabella La Rocca of California. And thanks to many more of you who also weighed in.

CURWOOD: Just ahead, more ideas for President-elect Obama’s environmental priorities, and the echoes of another president who took office in shaky financial times. Keep listening to Living on Earth.