President Obama recently joined Twitter (presumably so that racists can speak to him directly from the comfort of anonymity. Now that’s serving the constituents!) His first significant act as @POTUS was to hold a chat on climate change. This looks like considerably more preparation and manpower than the rest of us devote to tweeting, but it’s nice to see that, in the end, he hunches over the laptop like the rest of us.
Ready to answer your questions on climate change. Let's do this! #AskPOTUS pic.twitter.com/5KrIb5jL6S
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
He started off with a question we’ve asked over and over again here at Grist:
.@calebmegajew the science is overwhelming but what will move Congress will be public opinion. Your voices will make them open to facts.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
Then Obama defended his recent decision to allow Shell to drill test wells in the Arctic.
@POTUS Why are you allowing oil drilling in the arctic if you are concerned about climate change? #AskPOTUS
— Ben Alexander🇺🇦 (@BigBennyFL) May 28, 2015
@BigBennyFL 1/ We've shut off drilling in the most sensitive arctic areas, including Bristol Bay.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
.@BigBennyFL 2/ But since we can't prevent oil exploration completely in region we're setting the highest possible standards
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
.@BigBennyFL 3/ already rejected Shell's original proposal as inadequate which shows we're serious.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
Over at ThinkProgress, Natasha Geiling has already analyzed this exchange. The TL;DR version: Obama could have taken extreme action to stop Shell (like declaring the whole area a National Marine Sanctuary) but it’s tricky.
After tackling that tough question, Obama took on some softballs.
.@drock89 as @Pontifex and other religious leaders have stated we have a moral obligation to the most vulnerable and the next generation.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
Why yes, funny you should bring that up, both the Pope and I are pretty progressive on this issue.
.@ZCarlander more severe weather events lead to displacement, scarcity, stressed populations; all increase likelihood of global conflict.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
Yes, climate change sucks.
.@ZCarlander agreement with China big and will be working w Brazil to develop their plans. We will all need to do more with US leading
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
And yes, I did sign a big deal with China recently.
.@HtetWint renewable energy key, already increased solar 10x and wind 3x, now need to invest more in r&d and provide regulatory incentives
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
He also suggested talking more about climate change in schools:
.@arianastover Kids instinctively understand importance of environment, impact on animals, health. Weave it into science and social studies
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
And then couldn’t resist answering a few basketball tweets:
.@apat246 @chicagobulls love thibs and think he did a great job. Sorry to see him go but expect he will be snatched up soon by another team.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) May 28, 2015
Hash out the fate of the Earth, and then buckle down to discuss the fate of the Bulls. Ain’t that America?
