Sandy's political impact: Citing climate change, Bloomberg endorses Obama (+video)
(Read article summary)Independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has long listed global warming as one of his top concerns. He says hurricane Sandy brought the presidential election 'into sharp relief.'
New York
Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not afraid of supporting political candidates of either party – as long as they support the issues he cares about.
On Thursday, in an on-line opinion piece on Bloomberg.com, the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-Independent said hurricane Sandy had “brought the stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief.”
Exactly what does that mean?
In a few words, it means he is endorsing President Obama.
Cynics might say Mayor Bloomberg is thinking of who can get him the most aid to fix up New York after the devastation from the storm. Certainly New York will be asking Mr. Obama or whoever is president to pay a tab that will certainly stretch into the billions and billions of dollars.
But, that’s not what Bloomberg says made him decide to support Obama.
One of Bloomberg’s major concerns as mayor for the past 11 years has been global warming. He’s tried to lower New York City’s carbon footprint by planting more trees, getting more people to ride bikes, and looking for alternative energy supplies for one of the nation’s largest consumers of power.
From Bloomberg’s viewpoint, Obama has marched in the same direction by setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, tightening controls on mercury emissions, and closing the dirtiest coal plants.
