What's Your Elevator Pitch for President Obama?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is one of several leaders asked this question in a recent piece by Grist:

"We asked a number of leaders in environment and sustainability issues to imagine they found themselves in an elevator with the president-elect -- giving them one minute of his undivided attention. Here are their messages to Obama about how he should approach environment, energy, and climate policy."

Mayor Newsom uses his 60 seconds to address issues of global climate change and energy independence. Jim Moriarty, president of the California-based Surfrider Foundation, makes a plea for responsible stewardship and environmental optimism.

When you consider habitat scares, like the recent news that the Bush Administration plans to auction off more land for oil and gas exploration -- precariously close to our National Parks -- there isn't much attention given to issues of conservation, wilderness lands and wildlife. Then again, 60 seconds in moving elevator isn't a whole lot of time to effectively save planet earth.

** Edited 11/18 to add link to a Robert Redford editorial at Huffington Post, on this same BLM land deal.

My elevator eco pitch would be a 10-second plea for enlightened appointments to environmental and Interior Department posts -- before being hauled off by Secret Service for accidentally stepping into the President's elevator. But if you had 60 seconds, seriously, where would you go with that?