In my inbox this morning was a message from Ricken Patel and the team at Avaaz.org, “a community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today.” In it they reminded us of some of Obama’s election pledges, and here is their list, with some related images from the streets of London:
Campaign against Climate Change Kyoto Climate March, London, 12 Feb, 2005
- Reduce the US’s carbon emissions 80% by 2050 and play a strong positive role in negotiating a binding global treaty to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol
Stop the War march, London. Sat 15 March, 2008
- Withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months and keep no permanent bases in the country
Approaching Aldermaston, April 2004
- Establish a clear goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons across the globe
Amnesty International at US Embassy, London mark 6 years of Guantanamo shame, Jam 2008
- Close the Guantanamo Bay detention center
- Double US aid to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 and accelerate the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculoses and Malaria
- Open diplomatic talks with countries like Iran and Syria, to pursue peaceful resolution of tensions
- De-politicize military intelligence to avoid ever repeating the kind of manipulation that led the US into Iraq
- Launch a major diplomatic effort to stop the killings in Darfur
- Only negotiate new trade agreements that contain labor and environmental protections
- Invest $150 billion over ten years to support renewable energy and get 1 million plug-in electric cars on the road by 2015
Obama provides a welcome new chance for the USA; perhaps the world’s last fragile hope of avoiding global disaster.
