First, end the Iraq War immediately.  I would immediately assign $30 billion in 2009 to the United Nations, to be divided between a peacekeeping contingent and an economic development program.  Withdrawal of troops will be phased, and probably require another $30 billion.  Net saving in 2009 would be on the order of $100 billion, and net saving in later years would be at least $150 billion per year.  

 

Second, announce the end of the Bush Tax cuts in FY 2010.  Net budget savings will be around $250 billion per year.

 

Third, send a climate-change envoy to China, the EU, India, and the G-77 countries, to open intensive negotiations on a climate-change agreement by the end of 2009.  That agreement should focus on national targets for emission reductions, pledges to adopt best available technologies, massive increases in adaptation funding for the poorest countries, a large-scale solar-initiative for Africa, and a large-scale clean-coal initiative for India, China, and the United States.  

  

Fourth, hold a summit of Dry Land regions and countries in the White House in the spring of 2009, including Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, the U.S., Mexico, Australia, North Africa, and Mediterranean Europe.  The goal would be to launch a three-year undertaking to assess water risks, food insecurity, new engineering and agronomic approaches, and climate-change hazards to the world’s dry lands.  

 

Fifth, call on Congress to sign the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

 

Sixth, triple the public-sector funding for R&D into sustainable energy systems, to reach $10 billion per year in 2010.  This should be directed at five priorities: (1) demonstration of carbon-capture and sequestration, both in the U.S. and abroad; (2) development of solar power, both concentrated thermal and photovoltaics; (3) high-mileage automobiles, including plug-in hybrids; (4) improved safety and efficacy of nuclear power; and (5) support for green building design and construction

 

Seventh, embrace the Millennium Development Goals as the organizing principle for U.S. foreign assistance, and commit the U.S. to double aid from $25 billion today to $50 billion per year in FY 2010, and to reach 0.7 percent of GNP (roughly $100 billion per year at current income levels) by 2015.  The aid would be directed to water, disease control, renewable energy sources, and increased agricultural productivity, and at least half of all aid would go to Africa.  

 

Eighth, call on Congress to eliminate the subsidy on ethanol immediately, in order to reduce pressures on national and global food prices, and to rationalize our approach to sustainable energy.  

 

Ninth, immediately re-establish the U.S. contribution to the UN Population Fund, and call on countries to re-visit the objectives of the Global Plan on Population and Development.  The aim should be to stabilize the world’s population by 2050 at 8 billion or less, through a rapid and voluntary reduction of fertility rates, supported by universal access to family planning services.  

 

Tenth, establish a new Department for International Sustainable Development (DFISD) at the Cabinet level, which will oversee our international efforts in poverty alleviation, climate change, and biodiversity conservation.

 

Note that these budget objectives would leave a net saving of well over $200 billion per year, to address other domestic needs and to reduce the U.S. budget deficit.