Barack Obama ist in Washington vereidigt worden. Seine Rede zur Amtseinführung finden sie hier (englisch auf cnn.com, deutsch auf spiegel.de). Weil seine Amtsübernahme vielleicht die letzte Chance ist, unseren Planeten vor schwersten Schäden zu bewahren, möchte ich hier einige der im Kontext globaler Klimagerechtigkeit wichtigen Passagen zitieren (Hervorherbungen durch mich):
Embedded video from <a href=“http://www.cnn.com/video“ mce_href=“http://www.cnn.com/video“>CNN Video</a>
…. each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
… to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
… But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed
…. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.
… Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
… And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
… With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
… To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
… What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
Ein US-Präsident, der vom Klimawandel und erneuerbaren Energien in seiner wichtigsten Rede spricht. Welch ein Wandel. Welch eine Chance!
UPDATE: Hinweisen möchte ich auf www.whitehouse.gov. Auf der Mitte der Titelseite stehen unter der Überschrift „Agenda“ zwei Punkte: „Economy“ und „Energy and Environment„. Klimawandel und Energiewende ganz oben auf Obamas Agenda!
UPDATE2: Environmental Capital, der Blog des Wall Street Journal, kommentiert Obamas Rede wie folgt:
No recent president made energy and the environment such a centerpiece of his inaugural speech, not even Jimmy Carter, who burned much of his political capital, not to say cardigans, struggling to rejig America’s energy habits. President Nixon did twice mention „a cleaner environment,“ but then he also created the EPA. Neither Presidents Bush, nor President Clinton, nor President Reagan, had a single word to say about energy or the environment in their combined seven inaugural speeches.