NEWS

Richardson calls for “Marshall Plan” to address global warming

10/22/2007

Richardson: Ditch cowboy diplomacy
By WILLIAM PETROSKI
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

October 18, 2007

Des Moines, Ia - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson today called for an international partnership to create a "Marshall Plan for the 21st Century" to eliminate global poverty and illness, protect the environment, and stimulate economic development.

Richardson is governor of New Mexico and a former congressman and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He described himself as the best candidate to lead such a massive international effort. He said his colleagues seeking the Democratic presidential nomination have his respect, but none of them have negotiated an international deal.

"Refugee crises. Pandemic diseases. Climate change. Environmental degradation. Resource depletion. Ethnic and political instability. These are not just the problems of individual nations. They are the problems of an interdependent world," Richardson said in a speech to about 200 people at the Temple for Performing Arts in downtown Des Moines.

"International diplomacy will not always succeed ... but cowboy diplomacy will almost always fail," he said.

Richardson was introduced by David Hurd, the retired chief executive officer of Principal Financial Group, who has endorsed his presidential candidacy. Hurd said afterward he was impressed with Richardson’s background and experience, and by his innovative approach to problem solving.

Tamara Hubler, a retiree who also attended the speech, said she wasn’t sure if she will support Richardson, but she agreed with his message.

"He’s right. We are a very wealthy country and we need to be doing more," Hubler said.

Richardson, who has been running fourth among Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa polls, promised that if he is elected president, he will make the United States the world leader in the fight against worldwide poverty.

Global warming is a real threat, he said, and he proposed working through existing United Nations mechanisms to prepare for the possibility that millions of people could be displaced because of the flooding of deltas and coastal regions. Preparations should also be made to shift infrastructure and food production to new regions, he said. He favored developing crops more resistant to heat and drought, and distributing these crop strains to vulnerable areas.

"In America, in a nation that has long fed the world ... catastrophically rising temperatures threaten to decimate our farmland," Richardson said. "Here in Iowa, the foundation for an entire way of life could melt away."

Richardson said he wanted to introduce Republicans to a "new reality" that the United Nations is a necessary and important framework to confront international problems.

He called for reforming and invigorating the UN, and he said he understands better than anyone in the presidential race the organization’s shortcomings. But he added he knows the "incredible power" that the legitimacy of international cooperation can lend to peacekeeping, humanitarian relief, addressing climate change and economic development.

Richardson told reporters after his speech that because of the war in Iraq, the United States lacks international support to combat global terrorism. He said he favors building an international coalition to find Osama bin Laden and to eradicate al Qaida and other terrorists.

KEY POINTS OF RICHARDSON’S GLOBAL PLAN

• Work through existing United Nations mechanisms to prepare for the possibility that millions of people could be displaced because of global-warming-related flooding of deltas and coastal areas.

• Focus on education in developing nations, where 115 million children do not receive any schooling.

• Institute a nationwide, market-based cap and trade system that reduces carbon emissions in the U.S. by 80 percent by 2040. Make sure China and India develop clean energy.

• Accelerate research into cellulosic ethanol and other low-carbon biofuels and construct distribution networks for retailers.

• Develop cost-effective methods for harvesting fresh water and cleaning up polluted rivers and streams. Protect tropical rain forests and pursue aggressive reforestation programs.

• Fight cross-border crime, end slavery and make progress to eradicate human trafficking.