U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, speaking to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner in a new interview. Obama went on to defend his nuanced positions on the Keystone XL pipeline and Canadian tar sands, arguing that while he was unhappy with Republican attempts to circumvent the pipeline approval process, Canada was likely to develop the tar sands no matter what the U.S. decided to do about Keystone. He also acknowledged that the fight against climate change had taken a backseat, at least for much of the American public, to the more immediate concerns of the economy. Nevertheless, green bloggers cheered to see the President promise to make climate an issue in 2012.
“I suspect that over the next six months, this is going to be a debate that will become part of the campaign, and I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a serious way.”