To the Editor:

As President Obama’s impressive term winds down and the focus shifts to speculation about an uncertain, perhaps ominous, future, we do well to recall —and celebrate — the achievements of the past eight years. Over fierce, sometimes malicious, opposition, our 44th president is leaving us a significant trove of lasting benefits. In the area of environmental protections alone, as the Sierra Club reminds us:

• The economic stimulus, instituted after the 2008 meltdown left by the Bush administration, invested $90 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green jobs and technology. As a result, wind-generated electricity has grown three-fold, and solar electricity generation has increased 30-fold (even my wife and I have put 20 solar panels on our roof).

• The auto-industry bailout spurred car and truck manufacturers to agree to increase fuel economy standards to 36.6 mpg by 2017 and 54.5 mpg by 2025, avoiding tons of carbon pollution and pushing a transition to electric vehicles (even I now drive one).

• The EPA has instituted significant air and water safeguards affecting coal-fired power plants, including its Clean Power Plan that calls for cleaning up carbon pollution from existing plants.

• The Defense Department has recognized climate change as a security risk, and put in place a growing number of energy-saving practices.

• Over 20 new national monuments have been designated, protecting 265 million acres of land and water — more than any previous president.

• Prompted by a 2014 agreement between the U.S. and China, a breakthrough global climate agreement has been reached in Paris.

• The Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline has been rejected, a big step toward keeping large parts of our earth home from becoming uninhabitable in our lifetimes by keeping more and more fossil fuels in the ground.

• The Interior Department has placed a moratorium on new coal mining leases on public lands.

And the list goes on.

While we have President Obama to thank for taking these steps to protect our environmental habitat, we know that he could not have done it without the support — and pressure — from the people’s climate movement. That’s us!

So, now with a new administration peopled by climate deniers about to enter the stage, we must redouble our efforts to maintain these gains, keep our global commitments, and protect our planet and our children’s future — already threatened by ever-worsening climate disasters. Here in Western North Carolina we can look to — and support — organizations like the Creation Care Alliance, Mountain True, Appalachian Voices, Haywood Waterways Association, Dogwood Alliance, Southern Environmental Law Center, North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, as they lead us in this crucial effort.

Doug Wingeier

Waynesville