It is the start of the next administration. The nation has elected a committed environmentalist who vows to address our greatest challenges, beginning with the climate crisis. The White House crafts a plan to ensure reductions in greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. With help from leading environmental organizations, the plan wins approval in Congress. On a sunny morning in early spring, the president, flanked by prominent environmental advocates, signs the Climate Defense Act in a Rose Garden ceremony. Our sacrifices over the coming decades, the president promises, will safeguard the Earth that future generations will inherit.rnNow imagine another scene exactly one year later as tens of thousands of people assemble on the National Mall. These protesters seek to mark the anniversary of the law, but they have come to bury it, not to praise it. The assembled truck drivers, farmers, factory workers, and small business owners demand an end to regulations they claim are driving up energy costs and taking away their livelihoods. While industry groups have promoted the repeal campaign with the help of talk radio, it has clearly tapped into genuine frustrations with the law. Americans see the program's costs in time, money, and confusion daily, but its benefits remain hidden. With the 2010 mid-term elections approaching, members of the president's own party issue a call for a moratorium on the enforcement of selected provisions during the summer driving season. Meanwhile, a growing number of congressional challengers pledge to abolish the act altogether.
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