In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Michael Bloomberg has endorsed President Obama. Bloomberg’s endorsement is significant because in addition to being a business leader, he was the first Republican governor of New Jersey, and he is now the conservative independent mayor of New York City. Although Bloomberg has been critical of both candidates, he indicated that President Obama was the better candidate to tackle the global climate change.
“The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast — in lost lives, lost homes and lost business — brought the stakes of next Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote in an editorial for Bloomberg View.
“Our climate is changing,” he wrote. “And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it may be — given the devastation it is wreaking — should be enough to compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”
Prior to Sandy Mayor Bloomberg indicated that he had not decided who he would vote for, he further indicated that he was not likely to share his decision publicly. It appears Bloomberg could not countenance a Romney administration that would enact policies that would actively make climate change worse.
Mr. Bloomberg is the chairman of an organization called C40, a network of cities seeking to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
In support of his decision to endorse Obama, Bloomberg said:
“When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties’ nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America…One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.”
Obama welcomed the endorsement saying: “While we may not agree on every issue, Mayor Bloomberg and I agree… that climate change is a threat to our children’s future, and we owe it to them to do something about it.”
© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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