Environment Not On The Radar In Presidential Race

Christopher Smith — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:34:00 -0700

So, as I reviewed my blog entry on the domestic reception towards Al Gore winning a Nobel Peace Prize, I noticed an AdSense ad for Mike Huckabee and his position on the environment. Huckabee is kind of the guy in the GOP race that doesn’t get a lot of attention, but whenever you hear someone talk about him, they always seem to have nice things to say. So, I figured I should check out what his positions were on the environment.

Sadly, the link in the ad took me to the homepage for Huckabee’s campaign, rather than to a page talking about his positions on the environment. I did find a link to the newsroom where it he is, <sarcasm> in a manner that in no way is an attempt to hitch on to media coverage about the Nobel Peace Prize </sarcasm>, having a Green Day while campaigning in New Hampshire this weekend. I peaked around on the “Issues” section of his website and noticed nothing on the environment, although there was a section on “Energy Independence”. Now, that doesn’t mean he has poor positions on the environment. It does mean that his campaign doesn’t think his positions on the environment are important, and it appears they are correct.

Huckabee is far from alone though. I checked out all the major contenders for the GOP and the Democrats. I also checked out Ron Paul because it is dangerous to ignore him in the blogosphere. ;-) They all universally have an “Issues” section which provides a quick summary of their candidate’s positions on key issues. Almost none of them had the environment as a top issue. Sure, there was always something about “energy independence”, but that really isn’t the same thing. Arguably, one could significantly improve the US’s “energy independence” by damming up every river in the country, ripping open the earth up in Alaska, pulling out whatever coal remains in the country no matter what shape it is in, and conquering Canada. That won’t get you so much as a Christmas Card from the Sierra Club. I’ll give the Democrat front runners credit for mentioning “global warming”. Hillary gets bonus points for being magnanimous enough to congratulate Al Gore on his Nobel Peace Prize, although she fails to mention the IPCC shared in the kudos.

The one that really stood out was Barack Obama, whose issues page has an entry for energy, and a separate entry for the environment that links to a fairly extensive article on his plans for the environment. It goes beyond talking about climate change to concerns about pollution and conservation (I’m guessing he is pulling for an endorsement from the Sierra Club). A few strikes against him for talking about “global warming” (which I find misleads people about the issue), but as far as I could see his site was the only one that used the term I prefer: “climate change”.

What does this mean? I suspect this means the environment is going to get short shrift in the US for years to come, despite Al Gore’s efforts. You can only go after the candidates so much. The public just isn’t concerned. Obama deserves a lot of credit for having the leadership to push the issue in the face of the public’s indifference.

John McCain's Campaign Are A Bunch Of Pirates

Christopher Smith — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:07:00 -0700

It’s really hard to say much about this beyond: wow, that’ll teach ‘em. It does go to show how easily one can accidentally run afoul of IP law.

Is it just me, or is John McCain’s 2008 campaign starting off just horribly (and oddly quite the opposite of his 2000 campaign)?

Xblog: Tag presidential

Environment Not On The Radar In Presidential Race

John McCain's Campaign Are A Bunch Of Pirates