Global Justice Ecology Project’s Anne Petermann discusses President Obama’s State of the Union Speech in this week’s Earth Minute. Listen to Earth Minute on the Sojourner Truth Show on KPFK Radio.

In his recent State of the Union speech, President Obama talked of having “reinvented our energy sector.”
Dr. Rachel Smolker explains what this means. “Obama claims we have reinvented our energy sector, but what exactly has been achieved? His ‘all of the above’ approach has given us a fracking nightmare, with massive methane leaks and contaminated drinking water.
“Also achieved is a monumental waste of taxpayer dollars to subsidize production of biofuels that turn food into fuel, as well as companies that claim they will turn trees and grass into ethanol only to go bankrupt after gobbling up public subsidies.
“What Obama has ‘reinvented’ is a lift of the 40-year ban on crude oil export. He has ‘reinvented’ drilling in the Arctic. Even his claims about auto efficiency ring hollow since industry has just shifted to churning out more ‘light duty’ vehicles exempt from efficiency standards. He’s reinvented the energy sector all right, but only in the interests of the industry, not our kids future.”
For the Earth Minute and the Sojourner Truth show, this is Anne Petermann from Global Justice Ecology Project.