Could a President Obama or Clinton stop global warming?

Of course not. But they both have solid plans to avoid catastrophic climate change, which I examine in my new Salon article, “Obama and Clinton plan to cool it“:

We’ve seen that a President McCain is not likely to be the leader this country and the world need to maintain the planet’s livability for our children and the next 50 generations. What about a President Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama? Both would be a giant step forward. Unlike McCain, they have both put out detailed and comprehensive plans. (Obama’s is here. Clinton’s is here.) Although you wouldn’t know it from the media coverage, these plans are more important to the long-term health and well-being of future generations than the candidates’ healthcare or Iraq plans.

The article explains why “no president, not even a modern-day Lincoln or FDR, could possibly stop global warming even by their second term,” but also why it is crucial the the next president embrace an aggressive set of policies to begin sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the article focuses on Clinton’s and Obama’s crucial strategies for accelerating clean technology deployment.

If the next president does not start us on the path to avoid catastrophic global warming, he or she will be ensuring that subsequent presidents receive an endless number of calls at all times of day to deal with the ever worsening impacts on this country and the world. As guest blogger Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, recently wrote, “The best 3 a.m. phone call is the one that never has to happen.”