Green Options

To believe, or not to believe? That is the question of many on the far left and the fringes of the environmental movement. We cannot simply hope that Obama follows through with his promises, we must act to guarantee that he does.

Nothing represents this dichotomy more than the mixed feelings I have about the election of Barack Obama.

I walk a fine line between radical and liberal—between wanting to smash a failed system and fix a broken one. I consider myself an anarchist, yet I proudly voted. And I voted for Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, yet I fought back tears of joy as I witnessed Obama give his acceptance speech in person in Grant Park.

Obama has great potential to be the most liberal, open-minded president of the last century. Dare I say, he could be a catalyst for change.

What does this mean for those of us who view species extinction and global climate catastrophe as more than just back-burner issues? This represents an opportunity that the environmental movement has never seen, and we would be foolish to pass it up. So here are four steps to help ensure that Obama keeps his many bold promises to us.

Editor’s note: While I highlighted the group sessions and activities in my coverage of the Symi Symposium in Paros, Greece, last month, I also had the great pleasure of meeting a number of people engaged in important and interesting work on environmental protection and restoration. One of those individuals was Gerd Leipold, the executive director of Greenpeace International. Gerd and I were originally going to do a

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