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Candidate Stories
McCain and Obama share energy goals, not methods
07/02/2008
John McCain and Barack Obama know that most Americans need look no further than the gas pump for proof of America’s energy crunch.
With fuel topping $4 a gallon and oil at a record price, energy now ties the economy in polls as voters’ top concern, and the presidential candidates spent the past week trying to outflank each other on an issue that’s thinning billfolds from Maine to California.
Their plans share key goals - less reliance on foreign oil, a push for cleaner fuels - but their methods differ sharply.--The Christian Science Monitor, 6/30/08
McCain and Obama’s green dream
06/30/2008
What senators McCain and Obama believe about U.S. energy policy matters - hugely. To fight global warming, the next President will oversee the transition to a new, green economy, which will result in one of the biggest business transformations of the 21st century and potentially one of the largest transfers of wealth since the creation of the income tax.
Both candidates agree that a carbon cap-and-trade law is the best way to make industries reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Under such legislation, Washington puts a cap on carbon emissions that is lowered every year, and creates permits allowing industry to emit greenhouse gases just up to those limits. McCain favors reducing America’s carbon dioxide output to 60% of the 1990 level by 2050, whereas Obama sets his target at 80%.--CNNMoney.com, 6/30/08
McCain bucks Bush on climate change
06/25/2008
Republican nominee-elect John McCain Tuesday vowed to combat global warming without sacrificing economic growth, contradicting President George W. Bush on the need for binding emissions cuts.
Unlike Bush, McCain pressed for mandatory cuts in emissions of warming gases as he spoke at a California event alongside Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposes the White House hopeful’s call for offshore oil drilling.
McCain said lifting a federal ban on coastal drilling may not bring down sky-high fuel prices for "some years," but could have a psychological impact as the United States takes greater control over its energy future.
"Nothing is more urgent right now than regaining our energy security—we need to get it done and get it right," the Arizona senator said.--AFP, 6/25/08
Opeds & Editorials
Climate change will collapse Earth ecosystem
07/02/2008
Recent editorials about global warming continue to miss the point.
Most editorial comments, as to the urgency of this issue, tend to reflect a bias as to its impact on their personal agenda. There is worldwide consensus that the Earth’s temperature is increasing. The real problem is the time frame in which all of this is happening.
A one degree temperature change normally has happened in 10,000 year increments during the past two million years. Recently, the Earth’s temperature has increased one degree since 1900. This is too rapid a change for nature’s system to absorb. Nature is responding with earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions with increasing frequency and intensity. This temperature increase is warming the waters and changing the time cycles for plants and insects. This combination is pushing 5,000 species a year to extinction.--Argus Leader, 7/2/08
Energy plan ignores environmental issues
06/30/2008
Energy and environmental issues increasingly are intertwined. In Texas, especially, where the skies are polluted and carbon is king, plans for new power generation must give consideration to air-quality standards and expected federal emissions limits.
But new recommendations from Gov. Rick Perry’s Competitiveness Council offer a myopic view of energy and the economy while failing to recognize that pollution has a price.
A draft of the 2008 Texas State Energy Plan argues that adding "large amounts" of coal-fired power to the grid would be an effective way to reduce electricity prices. At the same time, the council denounces carbon dioxide regulations that would make coal a costly proposition.--The Dallas Morning News, 6/29/08
Moms make climate change top priority
06/25/2008
My 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter can’t vote. Nor can a million other kids across the state. So when we grownups cast our votes this fall, we’re voting for our kids, too.
That’s why I’m interested in where candidates in Washington stand on a top priority for me as a mom and for our children’s future: climate change.
This summer and fall, as state legislative candidates are out knocking on doors, holding forums and participating in debates, I’ll be letting them know how important action on climate change is to my family and me. I’ll be taking my kids to those forums and debates to ask candidates where they stand on strengthening state policies to combat global warming.--Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/24/08
Global Warming News
‘US has done least to address global warming’
07/03/2008
The US has done the least among the world’s eight biggest economies to address global warming, a study released on Thursday found.
The G8 Climate Scorecards 2008, released ahead of next week’s gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent temperature increases that scientists think would cause catastrophic climate changes.--The Times of India, 7/3/08
Citing global warming, Georgia judge blocks coal plant
07/03/2008
In what is thought to be an unprecedented ruling, a Superior Court judge in Fulton County, Ga., halted the construction of a coal-fired power plant, saying that the plant must limit its emissions of carbon dioxide.
Citing an April 2007 US Supreme Court ruling that recognizes carbon dioxide - the primary gas responsible for global warming - as a pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act, Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore overturned a lower court’s decision to issue an air-pollution permit to Dynegy’s Longleaf power plant near Columbus, Ga. Her decision is believed to be the first one that links global warming to an air-pollution permit.--The Christian Science Monitor, 7/2/08
Huntsman calls for climate change plan to rival Kennedy moon challenge
07/02/2008
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is challenging the Western Governors Association to put together a comprehensive energy and climate change blueprint that the group can present to the next U.S. president, in hopes of driving the nation’s energy future.
Comparing it to President Kennedy’s challenge in 1961 to send a man to the moon, Huntsman said the country needs a goal, and as many specifics as possible how to reach it. Western governors, he said, are uniquely situated to provide the vision.
"We have geography and numbers on our side. We are the most energy relevant region in the world when you take a slice of Western Canada right through the Western United States and who isn’t going to listen to this part of the world speak out on energy issues?" Huntsman said.--The Salt Lake Tribune, 7/2/08
Press Releases
Iowa’s Lutheran Churches Going Green
05/12/2008
Re: Climate Change Legislation – Urgent Plea for Enactment of Carbon Fees
05/09/2008
Dear Senators and Representatives:
We are writing to you about the urgent problem of climate change. Each of us has approximately two decades of public-sector experience in environmental enforcement.1 In addition, Allan has substantial experience with cap-and-trade programs. The purpose of this letter is to communicate the bases for our opinion that attempting to address climate change through a cap-and-trade approach alone (as is currently contemplated in most of the major bills before Congress) is an inefficient and ineffective strategy to address the most pressing problem of our time. We believe that failure by the United States to enact meaningful and escalating carbon fess in the near future will result in an unacceptable risk of devastating and irreversible global climate change. Even if you have doubts concerning the time-frame remaining for effective action, please join us in insisting on a strategy that will effectively address this unacceptable threat to our children’s future.--Laurie Williams & Allan Zabel
Iowa sportsmen want global warming leadership
11/01/2007
Newsletters
Debate Shifts On Global Warming
04/11/2007
A former presidential candidate and a potential presidential candidate from opposite ends of the political spectrum met to debate global warming this week, but unlike past events, this marked a noticeable shift in the debate on global warming.
New Hampshire Voters send strong message on Global Warming
03/27/2007
As the nation's warmest winter on record draws to a close, Granite State voters are demonstrating that global warming is a top priority for New Hampshire.
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by Emma