in this role, i was a part of the team that communicated the obama administration’s environmental objectives and goals to a multitude of stakeholders including nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and state and local governments around the country.

the office communicated with stakeholder organizations to understand issues and concerns through the perspective of the broader environmental community and the community’s many perspectives. the office achieved these goals through regular meetings, conference calls, and email correspondence with stakeholder updates. these stakeholders demonstrated that environmental issues are neither simple nor clear-cut, as they affect all sectors of society and the economy in different ways. one can easily see these effects in the divergent views of stakeholders, such as competing views between government officials in public lands designations.

in my time as a public engagement intern, i participated in many white house events. perhaps the most memorable events were the white house champions of change events, which highlighted the human-level aspect of policy issues. i had the opportunity to work on two of these events: champions of change for climate equity and for sustainable seafood. these events featured small groups of individuals who have worked to improve their communities in diverse ways through their sustainability work, from students to presidents and ceos of organizations.

i was able to look into the work of these champions of change to bring them together to discuss how the country can move forward. i found these events to be particularly meaningful, as it showed the champions that their work has larger meaning that is recognized by president obama and that they can learn from other innovators in other sectors in other parts of the country. events, like the champions of change series, served a dual purpose in informing the white house about the actions of the public as well as provide participants with opportunities for action. while there are many sustainability issues that the united states must face, bringing together community leaders demonstrates to these leaders and the broader audience that these issues have effects on real people in their daily lives.

with the end of the obama administration, these lessons of my internship are particularly timely, especially as the country takes in the trump administration, which has a uniquely different approach to environmental issues. as the transition continues, stakeholders must prepare to hold the federal government, state and local governments, universities and businesses accountable for their commitments, actions, and inactions. since the federal government is likely set to reverse course on sustainability issues, it is imperative that environmental activists continue to engage the public to protect progress and defend against regression.

former white house chief technology officer, aneesh chopra discusses how energy technology and information technology can be combined for powerful results.

these segments are from planet forward’s gw moving the planet forward conference held at the george washington university on april 17, 2012.

for example, here are my personal favorites for this new initiative: anna quindlen can be hired to begin by explaining how the policies are designed to help families and improve the climate, thomas freidman can be hired to go next and explain how the policies are designed to spur business innovation, create jobs, improve our competitiveness, and reduce our dependence on non-sustainable energy sources, and james fallows can be hired to explain how the policies are designed to benefit our balance of trade and strengthen our relations with the citizens in other nations throughout each region of the world.

each of these three gifted observers of national and international affairs should be given a budget to bring their own visual aids, as needed, with the help of other creative people from such players as disney and lucasfilms.

the white house should also acquire a youtube channel and/or co-op air time from c-span as platforms for broadcasting these weekly press conferences. they should be accessible to every person in the world who has a computer, a smart phone, or a cable tv connection. the press conferences can be in a location where existing domestic and foreign news channels can cover them and send correspondents to ask questions or not. the general public, on the other hand, should be given the same opportunity to submit questions for possible use on-air prior to each press conference or as follow-ups online.

i really believe that the planet can no longer afford to have the american white house communicate its efforts in behalf of energy, climate, and sustainability filtered through this country’s often bizarre, fragmented, and ultimately self-promoting mainstream television, radio, and print news media. i also believe that the white house cannot afford to have one person, the president, responsible for delivering all the details of the white house’s policies in these complex areas each week. the planet is already depending on the american president to oversee the conduct of two wars, build consensus on hundreds of issues with 535 members of congress and his cabinet, broker a long overdue mid-east peace agreement, and respond to any other domestic or foreign crises that requires american presidential leadership each day.

will the american people reach their potential in the 21st century in the areas of energy, climate, and sustainability, or be left behind? can the world afford the latter consequence? extraordinary times require this young democracy to set an extraordinary example. isn’t it time for the generally accepted leader of the free world to decisively and creatively lead the planet into a bolder era of energy, climate, and sustainability thinking?