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Candidates Discuss Global Warming, Oil
-- Mike -- 06/06/2007
The media sponsors of last night's Republican debate in New Hampshire generated the most significant discussion in a presidential debate yet on global warming, including a specific question on climate change directed to Rudy Giuliani.
Tom Fahey: Mayor Giuliani, sea levels around the world are rising. Average temperatures are increasing. A U.N. report written by scientists from 113 countries recently said that climate change is very likely man-made and may affect us for centuries to come.
Is science wrong on global warming? And what, if any, steps would you take as president to address the issue of climate change?
Rudy Giuliani: I think we have to accept the view that scientists have that there is global warming and that human operation, human condition, contributes to that. And the fact is that there is a way to deal with it and to address it in a way that we can also accomplish energy independence, which we need as a matter of national security.
It's frustrating and really dangerous for us to see money going to our enemies because we have to buy oil from certain countries. We should be supporting all the alternatives. We need a project similar to putting a man on the moon. That project started with Eisenhower. It was carried out by Kennedy and then Johnson and then Nixon. And that was two Democrats and two Republicans working - (audio difficulties) - working in the national interest.
Following that exchange, the media sponsors shifted the focus to a discussion on oil, in which Mitt Romney, John McCain, Jim Gilmore and Ron Paul were asked to weigh in.
Wolf Blitzer: I want Governor Romney to weigh in as well. There's a perception, at least among some, that Republicans are - at least the Republican Party - very close to big oil. A lot of Americans are suffering now from the price of gasoline, the high price of gasoline.
What do you say to that - the audience out there who believes that there's too much of an alliance, if you will, between the big oil companies and Republicans?
Mitt Romney: Well, first of all, Rudy Giuliani is right in terms of an Apollo project to get us energy independent, and the effects of that on global warming are positive. It's a no-regrets policy. It's a great idea.
Secondly, with regards to big oil, big oil is making a lot of money right now, and I'd like to see them using that money to invest in refineries. Don't forget that when companies earn profit, that money is supposed to be reinvested in growth. And our refineries are old. Someone said to me - Matt Simons, an investment banker down in Houston, he said our refineries today are rust with paint holding them up. And we need to see these companies, if they're making that kind of money, reinvest in capital equipment.
But let's not forget, where the money is being made this year is not just - throughout these years is not just in Exxon and Shell and the major oil companies, it's in the countries that own this oil. Russia last year took in $500 billion by selling oil. Ahmadinejad, Putin, Chavez - these people are getting rich off of people buying too much oil. And that's why we have to pursue, as a strategic imperative, energy independence for America. And it takes that Apollo project. It also takes biodiesel, biofuel, ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, nuclear power, more drilling in ANWR. We have to be serious also about efficiency - and that's going to allow us to become energy independent.
Wolf Blitzer: Senator McCain, do you have a problem at this time with these oil companies making these huge profits?
John McCain: Sure, I think we all do. And they ought to be reinvesting it. And one of the areas that they ought to be involved in is nuclear power. Nuclear power is safe, nuclear power is green - does not green - emit greenhouse gases. Nuclear power is used on Navy ships which have sailed around the world for 60 years without an accident. And of course we ought to be investing in alternate energy sources.
Recently there was a group of retired military officers who said that climate change an energy independence is a national security issue. It is. We've got to reduce our dependence on imported oil. We can do it through a wide variety of alternative fuels. But we have to be serious about it, and we're going to have to go places where we have never gone before. And nuclear power is one of the major issues, but also all kinds of ethanol as well, so.
Wolf Blitzer: Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Let me bring Congressman Paul back into this conversation. In 2005, President Bush signed an energy bill that provided billions of dollars in tax breaks, subsidies to the oil companies with the goal of boosting domestic production at a time of these record profits. Do you believe these companies need a helping hand from the federal government?
Ron Paul: I don't think the profits is the issue. The profits are okay if they're legitimately earned in a free market.
What I object to are subsidies to big corporations when we subsidize them and give them R&D money. I don't think that should be that way. They should take it out of the funds that they earn.
But I'm also - you can't discuss energy without discussing our foreign policy. Why - why do we go to the Middle East? You know that oil is very important about the Middle East and why we're there. Why did we, our government, help overthrow Mossadeq in 1953? It had to do with oil. So our foreign policy is designed to protect our oil interests. The profits - that's not the problem. It's the problem that we succumb to the temptation to protect oil interests by literally going out and fighting wars over oil.
Wolf Blitzer: Governor Gilmore, you agree?
Jim Gilmore: I agree that if you make profits in the open marketplace that that's an appropriate thing to do. I also believe that they should be going in, putting this additional money into additional drilling, into additional exploration, but it's going to have to be bigger than that. We're going to have to in fact look to all sources: ethanol, biomass, all coal, clean coal, the opportunities for natural gas, and nuclear power. And by the way, nuclear power will help this whole issue of global warming.
And one more point in direct answer to your question, the Kyoto Treaty was in fact fatally flawed. That was a treaty that in fact was going to basically just transfer money directly to Russia for nothing because they were going to get credits because simply that their economy had declined. The truth is, we're going to have to get a program in place, an international diplomatic answer that is going to include every nation of the world in this entire project, and that includes China and India.
Going forward, it's crucial we learn how all the candidates would work to solve the climate crisis.
What emissions reduction targets do they support? What would they do about our nation's stagnant fuel efficiency standards? What concrete goals would they set when it comes to improving our country's energy efficiency? What is the role of clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power?
Let's hope the candidates continue to discuss the issue of global warming on the campaign trail and in future debates.
Pre-Debate Visibility in New Hampshire
-- Mike -- 06/06/2007
Himalayan Glaciers Melting
-- Emma -- 06/06/2007
The Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, according to pictures by the environmental organization Greenpeace, which show that a large piece of the giant Rongbuk Glacier on Mt. Everest has disappeared. "The demise of the ice towers is the most significant sign of global warming in the Himalayas," said Li Yan, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace in China. "But this is just one example of what is happening right across the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. All the glaciers are depleting, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people."
Glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau are the source of Asia's largest rivers, including the Yangtze, Yellow, Indus, and Ganges Rivers. In addition to threatening the water supply of local villages, large-scale melting also creates a flooding threat for the region, when small lakes that have collected runoff water flood their banks.
Can the United States become “A Can-Do Nation”
-- DuBose -- 06/05/2007
Having recently had a chance to catch up on back issues of Time magazine, I discovered an essay written by former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley entitled, "A Can-Do Nation: The pessimistic story we're being told about America's capabilities is just plain wrong."
In his essay, Bradley questions a common stereotype heard today that when it comes to oil consumption - that Americans are unable to change their habits. In response, Bradley states, "We have been open, generous, expansive, forward looking, creative, egalitarian and optimistic. And that's who we still are today. All we need is a new story about what is possible - and the political courage to honor our best selves."
Bradley goes on to ask that Americans create an "ethic of correctness" by advancing collectively to conquer challenges such as climate change. Bradley asks that Americans not consider themselves red and blue, but red, white and blue.
Let's hope that our elected officials can rise above partisan rancor and address the growing climate crisis.
Candidates Discuss Global Warming Even When Media Doesn’t
-- Megan -- 06/04/2007
Despite the fact that the media sponsors at last night's Democratic debate in New Hampshire did not raise the question of how to address global warming, several of the candidates discussed the issue in response to other questions.
Chris Dodd was asked what he would do to reduce gas prices.
Chris Dodd: Well, this is a major crisis issue, obviously. Energy-related problems, obviously, are problems with global warming; the dependency on the Middle East for so much of our energy supplies. It's a national security issue. It's a health care issue. The problems are profound here and require some very strong answers.
I also think this issue provides incredible opportunities for us to grapple with and deal with here, if we have the kind of strong leadership in the country. I believe we can make a difference here on reducing our dependency on those sources of energy while simultaneously rolling back the problems of global warming.
Today we have the solar - polar caps, rather - melting. We have greenhouse gases that are accumulating at record levels, way beyond expectations. We really have the dual responsibility here of reducing the polluting effects of depending upon fossil fuels and also allowing us to develop the alternative technologies that would allow us to move beyond this issue.
I've introduced a plan here that would require, by the year 2017, 50-miles-per-gallon standard for automobiles. I believe that can be done. We ought to do it immediately, in my view, and a carbon tax, in my view, so that you make these polluting dependencies, the polluting fuels more expensive and encourage then for the use of revenues collected to move aggressively on developing the alternative technologies of solar and wind and other sources of energy we could use.
Bill Richardson was asked if oil companies are price gouging.
Bill Richardson: Well, I was Energy secretary; in my state, we call it the Clean Energy State. We have incentives for solar, wind, biomass, biofuels. We require renewable technologies -- 20 percent of our electricity.
Here's my answer. What would help in the short term -- give us, the states, the authority to engage in serious price-gouging investigation. It just doesn't happen. But this is not the answer.
Wolf Bliztzer: But do you believe they are? Do you believe they are?
Bill Richardson: No, they're not. The answer is this: We need an Apollo program - Apollo - led by a president asking every American to sacrifice, to conserve, that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which is 65 percent imported, to 10. I have the most aggressive plan, according to the League of Conservation Voters. It would go to 80 percent -- 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2040. But it takes an effort by every American.
Additionally, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards identified global warming as an issue facing Americans.
Hillary Clinton: ...How, then, do we set forth the priorities that we want to address, including energy efficiency, dealing with global climate change and so much else?
John Edwards: We have huge issues here at home. We've talked about some of them tonight - energy, global warming, what we do about the issue of health care in America....
We hope that the media sponsors will not ignore the issue of global warming in tomorrow's Republican debate.
Global Warming Newspaper Ads Launched in NH
-- Mike -- 06/03/2007
The League of Conservation Voters and Granite State Conservation Voters are running newspaper ads to coincide with this week's Democratic and Republican debates in New Hampshire. The ads, running in the New Hampshire Union Leader June 3-6, urge the presidential candidates to make addressing global warming a top priority.
Click here to view the the ads.
New Richardson Ad Discusses Global Warming, Energy
-- Mike -- 06/02/2007
Bill Richardson is airing a new TV ad that references his record as governor on global warming and energy issues. In the ad, a narrator says:
"New Mexico, no other state has done as much to promote renewable energy and fight global warming. Under Governor Bill Richardson, New Mexico is requiring utility companies to produce energy from renewable sources. He set tough standards to reduce greenhouse gases, and is offering tax credits for using wind, solar and biofuels."
Richardson released his energy plan last month.
Volunteers Rally for Global Warming Solutions
-- Mike -- 06/02/2007
Campaigning in Seattle yesterday. Barack Obama was greeted by volunteers rallying to make global warming a presidential priority. At the event Obama called for a national energy policy that focuses on environmentally friendly technologies, saying, "If we can send somebody to the moon, we can sure as heck figure out how to make a green economy," according to the Associated Press.
Dodd Ad Focuses Exclusively on Global Warming
-- Mike -- 05/31/2007
Chris Dodd rolled out a new TV ad today that focuses exclusively on global warming. The ad, which will be running in Iowa and New Hampshire, includes the following from the narrator:
"All the Earth's creatures are threatened by global warming. One candidate for president is doing something to stop it - Chris Dodd. He's the only one with an energy plan that has a courageous corporate carbon tax to transform American industry."
This ad comes on the heels of another recent TV spot from Dodd that also references global warming.
Aussies get clever on the climate
-- Adam -- 05/31/2007
The issue of global warming has experienced a flip of sorts Down Under, Reuters reported. The conservative government in Australia plans to mount a major national ad campaign solely on the climate issue. The ads will "be called ‘Climate Clever’ and feature an old lady boiling water for a cup of tea." The public there has become much more cognizant of the global crisis, as much of the country suffers one of the worst droughts on record. As a result, support for the government, who had fought the issue until recent months, has fallen dramatically as another election cycle approaches this fall. The ads are set to coincide with a new proposal by the government to price and cap carbon emissions nationally, from an administration that has until now said that such action would supposedly harm the economy.
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