Barack Obama

President Obama has just said no to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was to carry tar sands oil from Alberta to Texas. Despite a fierce lobbying campaign by oil companies and by Canada's Harper government, Obama spiked the pipeline - in part thanks to an unprecedented and global grassroots uprising.

During his election campaign President Obama placed a high emphasis on dealing with one of the greatest threats we all face - reducing the vast numbers of nuclear missiles held by both Russia and the United States.

As he put it in his inauguration speech "With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat" In response to an arms control survey he was more specific – "I will not authorize the development of new nuclear weapons. And I will make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a central element of U.S. nuclear policy."