Perhaps more than any other sitting U.S. President, Barack Obama has been Commander in Chief through some of the most obvious examples of what climate change will do to America. The last few weeks alone have given us severe droughts in some areas of the country while others have seen unprecedented flooding; The state of Colorado is battling some of the worst wildfires in their history; and massive heat waves are engulfing large swaths of America. And let’s not forget the massive snowstorms in the winter of 2010 – 2011.

In Part 1 of this series, we explored the overall environmental issues that are facing the U.S., mostly as a part of coordinated attacks by politicians in Washington. In the next few articles, we’ll take a look at what each candidate has said or done in regards to both environmental and energy issues.

Environmental and energy issues became one of the central issues of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. While the economy itself took center stage, energy issues were right behind it, being pushed by the insufferable chant of “Drill baby drill.” In the four years that have followed, the U.S. has seen a boom in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), the worst oil spill in our history, skyrocketing (and then plummeting) gas prices, a disastrous oil pipeline plan that threatens the safety of our aquifers, and a Republican-led assault on environmental safety standards.

A team of U.S. and Swiss scientists have successfully created technology that can turn solar energy to a usable liquid form of fuel. Researchers say that the method used is similar to the way that plants photosynthesize the sun’s energy to create fuel.

In a disastrous move on Tuesday evening, Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman – the two sponsors of The American Power Act – bowed to big oil and voted against a provision that would have stripped $35 billion in tax breaks that the industry currently receives.

A team of U.S. and Swiss scientists have successfully created technology that can turn solar energy to a usable liquid form of fuel. Researchers say that the method used is similar to the way that plants photosynthesize the sun’s energy to create fuel.

In spite of the fact that he is sponsoring the most comprehensive energy reform bill in American history [pdf], Senator John Kerry said at an event on Wednesday that ending offshore oil drilling was simply not possible.