SALIENCE OVER SUSTAINABILITY: PRESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL RHETORIC FROM FDR TO BARACK OBAMA

Abstract

The first seventeen months of the Obama administration, despite the promise of change, largely continued the American tradition of conservative environmentalism. Instead of arguing for environmental policy with environmental claims, Obama used national security and economic frames as a way to note the primary benefits of his policies. His rhetorical strategies placed environmentalism as a tertiary concern to economics and national security, and avoided frank discussions about global warming and environmental decline. While this rhetorical ploy may create spurts of short-term environmental activism, it fails to create a sustainable environmentalism that is necessary to prevent widespread environmental devastation.