American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a victory for environmentalists

Yesterday’s signing of the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act marked a substantial victory for environmentalists nationwide. Salon offers an excellent accounting of the environmentally friendly components of the package, as well as a round-up of glowing statements from prominent national environmental organizations. At the outset of his remarks, President Obama made it perfectly clear that the stimulus package is just "the beginning" of the hard work that must be done. David Sirota agrees, noting that "the fights from here get tougher."

To that end, 25 of the largest environmental and conservation organizations in the country have just released the Green Budget for fiscal year 2010. The report outlines priorities for federal spending on lands and wildlife, energy, environment and public health, oceans, transportation and other programs.

You can download the full report at: www.saveourenvironment.org

In Oregon, we spend a lot of time working on issues like transitioning to a clean energy economy and making sure that the transportation choices of today lead to a more sustainable tomorrow. These are exactly the types of issues the report addresses and provides recommendations to fund.

In a press release issued this afternoon, several national environmental leaders provided statements about the report. Here are a few highlights.

Bill Meadows, President of The Wilderness Society:

The new administration has a unique opportunity in the FY 2010 budget to provide jobs and restore economic vitality to many areas in need, while also beginning to address the impacts of global warming. Our natural resources provide economic growth in perpetuity, and investing in them provides our country with long term, lasting benefits.

Colin Peppard, Federal Transportation Program Manager for Friends of the Earth:

Over the past several years, many innovative transportation programs that protect our environment and reduce pollution have been underfunded, reducing their effectiveness, and increasing the environmental impacts of transportation. Our transportation budget recommendations ensure we are once again promoting clean air and water, reducing oil use and global warming, and protecting wildlife and open space.

Efforts like the Green Budget are extremely useful in our work to ensure a healthier and more sustainable Oregon. Not only do they offer policymakers valuable data and thoughtful advice on how spending on environmental programs can best be allocated, but they also shine a much needed spotlight on the importance of these federal programs.

 This focus on federal environmental programs is especially important now, as our state faces an estimated budget deficit of up to $800 million for this biennium alone. Every critical environmental project funded by federal dollars saves our state policymakers one more difficult choice between urgent environmental needs and other priorities for state funds. Environmental programs that address issues as critical as access to safe drinking water and preserving our climate are far too important to be so heavily dependent on state funding. The proposals and recommendations made in the new Green Budget should act as a much needed nudge to policymakers as they determine how best to spend federal dollars.