Obameter

Tracking Obama's promises

"Will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service."

"Will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application."

Will "eliminate wasteful subsidies to private student lenders, which will save nearly $6 billion dollars per year, and invest the savings in additional student aid."

"When I am president, we'll fight to make sure we are once again first in the world when it comes to high school graduation rates."

"We're also going to set a goal of increasing the number of high school students taking college level or AP courses by 50 percent in the coming years."

"Will develop domestic incentives that reward forest owners, farmers, and ranchers when they plant trees, restore grasslands, or undertake farming practices that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."

"Will reinvigorate the drinking water standards that have been weakened under the Bush administration and update them to address new threats. Will help communities by restoring better federal financing for water and wastewater treatment infrastructure, and will continue leadership in protecting national treasures like the Great Lakes from threats such as industrial pollution, water diversion, and invasive species. And will establish policies to help high-growth regions with the challenges of managing their water supplies."

"In the Obama Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency will strictly monitor and regulate pollution from large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) - which raise more than 40 percent of U.S. livestock - with fines for those who violate tough air and water quality standards."

"Restore the Great Lakes - Will push for the passage of the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act, which will move us past playing defense against environmental problems and toward a comprehensive restoration of the Great Lakes."

Will "support federal policies to encourage voluntary water banks, wastewater treatment, and other market-based conservation measures" to address the water shortage in western states.

"Will work to strengthen the EPA Office of Environmental Justice and expand the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program, which provides non-profit organizations across the nation with valuable resources to address local environmental problems; will work to ensure that environmental health issues in the wake of man-made or terrorist disasters are promptly addressed by federal state and local officials; will work to provide low-income communities the legal ability to challenge policies and processes that adversely affect the environmental health of low-income and minority communities."

"To support the continued growth of sustainable alternative agriculture...will increase funding for the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program to help farmers afford the costs of compliance with national organic certification standards; and will reform the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency's crop insurance rates so that they do not penalize organic farmers."

"Will repair the damage done to our national parks by inadequate funding and emphasize the protection and restoration of our National Forests."

Will support "increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports land acquisition and maintenance of parks" and "will lead efforts to acquire and conserve new parks and public lands, focusing on ecosystems such as the Great Plains and Eastern forests which do not yet have the protection they deserve."

"Will put an unprecedented level of emphasis on the conservation of private lands; will advance legislation that works with landowners and follows in the tradition of the Wilderness Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act to focus federal attention and increased resources for this key environmental issue; will increase funding for the Conservation Security Program and the Conservation Reserve Program; and will create additional incentives for private landowners to protect and restore wetlands, grasslands, forests, and other wildlife habitat."

"Will encourage the use of methane digesters that are being used to produce power from animal waste; and will expand USDA projects that focus on energy efficiency and conservation."

"Some states have developed an Early Assessment Program that enables 11th graders and their families to ascertain if they are on track to be college ready by the time they graduate. The voluntary test and the presentation of results are specifically designed to inform students what they need to do to prepare for college while they still have time to do it. This program will increase college readiness and is voluntary."

Obama "will provide $25 million annually in matching funds for states to develop Early Assessment Programs. These funds will also promote state efforts to raise awareness about the availability of federal and state financial aid programs."

"Will continue to work to ensure that the maximum Pell Grant award is increased for low-income students. Specifically, he will ensure that the award keeps pace with the rising cost of college inflation."

"Will create a Community College Partnership Program to strengthen community colleges by providing grants to a) conduct more thorough analysis of the types of skills and technical education that are in high demand from students and local industry; b) implement new associate of arts degree programs that cater to emerging industry and technical career demands; and c) reward those institutions that graduate more students and also increase their numbers of transfer students to four-year institutions."