The Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards were in New Hampshire yesterday.   Neither has made a formal declaration as to whether or not they will seek the presidential nomination, but trips to the Granite State seem to point in that direction. 

Edwards, who was in Manchester promoting his book ”The Blueprints of Our Lives,” is also planning book tour stops in Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina, other important states in the early presidential election process (read the entire article about Edwards visit in today’s Union Leader).  According to the Portsmouth Herald’s article, “Candidates Woo N.H. Activists,” Edwards has been determinedly “courting” NH Democratic activist Jim Demers in hopes that Demers will sign on to promote Edwards.  “I don’t think there’s ever been a time I’ve talked to him when he hasn’t concluded by point-blank asking if I’ll sign on to his team,” said Demers; but as of right now he’s “totally uncommitted” despite many other Democratic suitors knocking at his door–Sen. Evan Bayh, Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Barack Obama, and Gov. Bill Richardson.

One potential wannabe, Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack, doesn’t have to play the courting game.  With plans to announce an official run later this week in his home town Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Vilsack, whom many are calling a “long shot” candidate, built up his credibility when political activists Gary Hirshberg, President of Stonyfield Farms in New Hampshire, and Lou Sousman, a Chicago investment banker, signed on in support of his campaign (read the entire article in the Des Moines Register).

This editorial in today’s New York Times says the 12-state lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is deemed to be one of the most important environmental cases in years.  The case, which will be brought in front of the Supreme Court tomorrow, argues that the EPA’s Clean Air Act has been violated by the lack of regulations on greenhouse gases.  The editorial explains “a plain reading of the Clean Air Act shows that the states are right.”  The Clean Air Act states that the EPA “shall” set standards on air pollutants that “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”  While the federal government remains passive in the fight against global warming, the editorial concludes that “the Supreme Court can strike an important blow in defense of the planet simply by ruling that the E.P.A. must start following the law.”