Cynicism about government is a plague on our country. Democrats (who should know better) encourage the attitude that "government does nothing to solve our problems" when we act as if Congress and the Executive branch have ignored global warming.
Below the break, I will try to make the case that our government (and the Democratic Congress of 2009-2010 and the Obama Administration, in particular) have done amazing things to attack the causes of climate change.
Here is an incomplete discussion of huge steps taken since January 20, 2009 to address the problem of climate change (all emphasis is mine):
Legislative Action - Manhattan Project for Alternative Energy
It is true that in 2010 Congress defeated "cap and trade" legislation. But far from doing nothing, Congress legislated, and the Executive branch is implementing, a massive alternative clean energy program which the Wall Street Journal, of all sources, called "equivalent in scope to the Manhattan Project." As reported in Scientific American:
A once-in-a-generation shift in U.S. science is being spurred by the Obama administration’s push to solve the nation’s energy problems, in a massive federal program that rivals the Manhattan Project. This summary comes, not from just another renewable energy blogger like myself, overwhelmed by the gushing hose of news out of Steven Chu’s newly invigorated Department of Energy, but from a surprising source, The Wall Street Journal.
“The government’s multi-billion-dollar push into energy research is reinvigorating 17 giant U.S.-funded research facilities, from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory here to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. After many years of flat budgets, these labs are ramping up to develop new electricity sources, trying to build more-efficient cars and addressing climate change.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/...
Executive Action - Doubling Fuel Efficiency of Autos
August 8, 2012: The Obama Administration today finalized groundbreaking standards that will increase fuel economy to the equivalent of 54.5 mpg for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. When combined with previous standards set by this Administration, this move will nearly double the fuel efficiency of those vehicles compared to new vehicles currently on our roads. In total, the Administration’s national program to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions will save consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump and reduce U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/...
Legislative and Executive Actions are having a profound effect
"The Silent Green Revolution"
The world’s most powerful lithium-ion battery that could drop the cost of the Chevy Volt by $5,000. A new method of making silicon wafers that would reduce the cost of solar panels by a third. A 260-ton generator positioned in the Pacific Ocean to capture the renewable energy in waves and power 1000 homes. These all sound like something from Tomorrowland, but in fact they are the results of a “silent green revolution” being funded by the U.S. government.
http://www.ispringassociates.com/...
"Shrinking Carbon Pollution" - we're on target
Despite the failure of comprehensive climate and energy legislation in 2010, U.S. carbon pollution emissions and projections of future carbon pollution have been coming down ever since. A new forecast out this week continues that trend...
I discussed various reasons for this incredible shrinking carbon pollution forecast in my previous post, which I won’t repeat here. What does bear repeating is that this means that the target embraced by President Obama of reducing U.S. emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 is well within reach.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/...
U.S. Leads the World in Reduction Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Even before these steps were taken, the U.S. was already leading the world in reduction of greenhouse gases:
It is likely to come as a surprise that the US has become a model for its reduction in GHG emissions over the last decade. According to a report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, GHG emissions per capita fell more in the United States from 2000 to 2009 than in any other area reviewed.
http://www.newgeography.com/...
We aren't failing; and we aren't ignoring the problem. Under the leadership of President Obama and the Democratic Congress, we have made significant, meaningful, advances in the battle against global warming.